&& 


■:■/■:    i,  . 


IEF  HISTORY  OF  THE 


•^r^.rv-.v.^.,-- 


A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE 
MORAVIAN  CHURCH 


A  SERIES  OF  PAPERS  PREPARED  BY 
TEACHERS  OF  THE  SALEM  HOME 
SUNDAY  SCHOOL  FOR  USE  IN  THE 
CLASSES. 


PART  I . 


WINSTON-SALEM,  N.  C. 
January,  1907 


having  in  vain   tried  to  intimidate  the  Apostles  by  threats,   took 
counsel  to  slay  them,  but  were  withheld  by  the  advice  of  Gamaliel. 

In  the  meantime,  certain  Hellenistic  Jews,  provoked  by  the  zeal; 
of  Stephen,  one  of  the  almoners  or  deacons  chosen  for  the  distribu- 
tion of  alms  among  the  poor,  stirred  up  the  people  against  them. 
The  Sanhedrim  did  not  long  resist  the  popular  tumult,  and  Stephen, 
died,  the  first  martyr. 

With  this  commenced  a  persecution  which  led  to  the  dispersion 
of  the  disciples,  and  served  to  spread  the  Gospel  far  and  wide,  for 
we  read  in  The  Acts,  "  they  that  were  scattered  abroad  went  every- 
where, preaching  the  Word."  Driven  from  Jerusalem,  they  preached, 
the  Gospel  in  Judea,  Samaria,  Damascus,  Phcenecia,  Cypius  and 
Antioch,  though,  at  first,  only  to  the  Jews.  In  an  extraordinary 
manner  God  made  known  to  Peter,  and  through  him  to  the  whole 
Church,  His  will  that  the  Gentiles  also  should  become  Christians, 
and,  in  an  equally  remarkable  way,  He  called  Paul  to  be  the  Apostle 
to  the  Gentiles. 

From  this  time  forward,  Christianity  spread  rapidly  and  from 
the  account  of  Paul's  travels  in  The  Acts,  as  well  as  from  fragments 
of  ancient  writings,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  bad  not  only  reached  every  portion  of  the  Roman  Empire  by 
the  close  of  the  first  century,  but  that  it  had  extended  its  influence 
into  Parthia,  India  and  Scythia. 

The  Christ'ans  were  at  first  persecuted  only  by  the  Jews,  for 
the  Romans  considered  them  a  part  of  the  Jewish  nation,  which  en- 
joyed religious  liberty  by  virtue  of  decrees  of  the  Roman  senate  and 
of  the  Emperor,  and  did  not  molest  them.  When,  however,  the 
Jews  began  to  make  complaints  against  the  Christians  to  the  Roman. 
authorities,  it  was  seen  that  they  stood  apart,  and  being  no  longer 
under  the  shield  that  was  extended  over  a  national  religion,  their 
meetings  were  pronounced  illegal,  and  they  became  exposed  to  the 
full  force  of  the  Roman  law.  How  much  they  suffered  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  locality,  the  intolerance  of  the  Roman  officers,  and 
the  policy  of  the  Emperors.  In  the  year  G4  A.  D. ,  Nero,  to  screen, 
himself,  accused  the  Christians  of  setting  fire  to  the  city  of  Rome. 
This  was  the  signal  for  a  severe  persecution,  which  was  confined 
chiefly  to  the  city  and  its  immediate  neighborhood.  Another  perse- 
cution took  place  during  the  reign  of  Domitian,  which  extended 
over  the  whole  empire  and  raged  until  the  time  of  his  death,  but 
both  failed  utterly  in  their  attempt  to  exterminate  the  Church,  which, 
continued  to  grow  rapidly. 

It  is  evident  from  the  narrative  given  in  the  Acts  that  the  first 
Christians,  as  long  as  the  converts  were  chiefly  among  the  Jewish 
nation,  considered  themselves  as  connected  with  the  Jewish  Church 
and  participated  in  all  its  institutions.  But  it  appears  also  that  they 
united  in  private  meetings  and  "  in  breaking  of  bread  from  house  to- 


house,"  and,  the  Evangelist  adds,  "All  that  believed  had  all  things 
common,  and  sold  their  possessions  and  goods,  and  parted  to  them 
allj  as  every  man  had  need."  The  unbelieving  Jews,  however, 
calling  them  in  derision  Galileans  and  Nazarenes,  drove  them  from 
their  synagogues,  and  compelled  them  to  form  a  regularly  consti- 
tuted society. 

The  first  Christian  society  was  established  at  Jerusalem,  and 
that  became  the  mother  of  all  Christian  Churches.  Thither  Peter 
went  to  render  an  account  of  his  visit  to  the  centurion  at  Caesarea, 
and  Paul  to  render  an  account  of  his  labors  among  the  Gentiles. 
There,  also,  the  difficult  question,  whether  Gentile  converts  were  to 
be  compelled  to  submit  to  all  the  laws  of  Moses,  was  brought  and 
decided  in  the  negative. 

Naturally,  the  primitive  Church  was  modeled  after  the  Jewish 
synagogue,  with  similar  offices  and  forms  of  service.  These  were 
changed  in  time,  however,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
Churches. 

The  Lord  had  left  no  special  rule  in  regard  to  the  government 
of  His  Church  except  that  His  followers  should  have  but  one  Lord 
and  Master,  even  Christ,  and  that  all  the  members  of  His  Church, 
as  brethren  and  sisters,  were  to  maintain  a  standing  of  perfect  equal- 
ity, therefore  no  difference  in  rank  was  attached  to  any  office  of  the 
Church  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles.  The  ministry  was  not  a  dignity 
but  a  service,  a  function,  a  duty.  In  the  way  of  necessary  organi- 
zation there  were  deacons  to  distribute  alms  and  attend  to  such  in- 
terests, and  elders  to  guard  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  members. 
Bishops  began  to  be  considered  a  higher  order  of  the  clergy  during 
the  second  century,  but  during  the  first  century  the  title  was  often 
used  as  the  equivalent  of  elder,  gradually  becoming  restricted  to  the 
chief  elder  in  a  congregation. 

While  the  Apostles  were  living,  or  any  who  had  been  eye  wit- 
nesses of  the  life  of  Jesus,  and  had  heard  His  doctrines  from  His 
own  lips,  their  lives  and  their  hearts,  filled  as  they  were  with  the 
Holy  Spirit,  supplied  every  want  of  spiritual  knowledge  which  Chris- 
tians could  desire.  Four  of  their  number  wrote  the  story  of  Christ's 
life  on  earth,  each  recording  the  doctrines  and  the  events  which 
seemed  to  him  most  important.  The  Apostles  travelled  hither  and 
thither,  preaching  and  teaching,  and,  when  unable  to  visit  certain 
churches,  they  sent  letters  of  instruction,  encouragement  and  warn- 
ing, applying  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  to  the  needs  of  their  people, 
and  these  letters  were  read  to  the  Churches  in  the  neighborhood,  as 
well  as  to  those  to  which  they  were  written.  So  the  Apostolic 
Church  practically  had  the  entire  Scriptures,  though  the  canon  of  the 
New  Testament  was  not  compiled  until  the  second  century,  or  later. 


THE  EARLY  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH, 
ioo — 313  A.  D. 

When  the  first  century  ended  the  Apostle  John  was  still  livings 
but  imprisoned  on  the  island  of  Patmos.  Men  had  all  sorts  of  beliefs,. 
as  they  have  now,  for  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament  had  hot  yet 
been  compiled, — hence,  there  was  room  for  much  tradition  and 
many  opinions.  This  caused  the  leaders  of  the  Church  to  recognize 
the  need  for  some' standard  by  which  all  men  could  test  their  faith. 
During  the  second  and  third  centuries  the  writings  which  had  come 
down  from  apostolic  days  were  carefully  studied,  those  of  uncertain 
authorship  or  doubtful  inspiration  were  gradually  set  aside,  and  at 
last  the  five  histories  which  we  call  the  Gospels  and  the  Book  of. 
Acts,  and  the  Epistles  and  Revelation  of  our  New  Testament,  were 
accepted,  and  have  ever  since  been  the  foundation  of  the  faith  and 
practice  of  Christians. 

During  the  second  century  the  Church  was  disturbed  by  various 
sects  of  Ebionites  and  Gnostics.  Since  those  who  held  these  here- 
sies considered  themselves  Christians,  the  orthodox  party  began  to 
speak  of  themselves  as  the  "Catholic,"  that  is,  the  "universal" 
Christian  Church,  as  distinguished  from  the  unorthodox  sects,  and 
the  name  is  still  so  used,  though  the  term  "  Roman  Catholic"  came 
to  have  a  more  limited  meaning  in  the  next  period  of  the  Church. 

In  the  third  century,  Paul,  Bishop  of  Samosata,  led  another 
sect,  called  the  Monarchians  ;  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century  came  Arius,  whose  teachings  were  embraced  by  multitudes, 
bringing  endless  and  bitter  trouble  to  the  Church.  Alius  was  a. 
presbyter  in  Alexandria,  who  propounded  the  doctrine  that  Christ 
was  a  created  being,  and  so  not  equal  with  the  Father  until  after  the 
Ascension.  A  Church  Council  was  called  at  Nicea,  in  325,  which 
decided  that  the  Son  was  equal  with  the  Father,  the  creation  of  the 
Son  was  denied,  and  His  eternal  Sonship  affirmed.  Arius  and  two 
friends  were  banished  to  Illy ria,  but  the  heresy  long  retained  great 
importance.  The  chief  opponent  of  Arius  was  Athanasius,  Bishop 
of  Alexandria,  who  was,  for  half  a  century,  the  untiring  and  intrepid 
defender  of  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity  of  Christ. 

But  Athanasius  was  not  the  first  to  rise  up  against  these  various 
heresies.  Among  the  names  that  stand  out  during  the  second  cen- 
tury for  fostering  the  true  faith  are  Ignatius,  Bishop  of  Antioch  ; 
Polycarp,  Bishop  of  Smyrna  ;  Justin  Martyr,  and  Irenaeus,  Bishop 
of  Lyons, — all  sealing  their  faith  with  their  lives.  Ignatius,  some 
of  whose  writings  still  exist,  was  taken  to  Rome,  where  he  perished 
as  a  martyr  in  the  amphitheatre.  Polycarp,  a  disciple  of  John  the 
Apostle,  was  arrested,  and  when  required  to  curse  Christ  answered: 
"Six  and  eighty  years  have  I  served  Him.,  and  He  has  done  me 


nothing  but  good  ;  and  how  could  I  curse  Him,  my  Lord  and  Sa«. 
viour  !"  Refusing  to  renounce  the  faith  he- was  burned  to  death. 
Justin,  whose  writings  present  us  with  very  valuable  information 
concerning  the  Church  of  his  time,  was  put  to  death  at  Rome, — - 
tradition  says  he  was  scourged  and  beheaded.  Irenseus  studied 
under  Polycarp,  and  his  treatise,  ''Against  Heresies,"  is  one  of  the 
principal  Christian  writings  of  the  century.  He  died  a  martyr  at 
Lyons.  Following  these  we  find  an  able  defender  of  the  cause  of 
Christianity  in  Tertullian  of  Carthage,  a  celebrated  writer,  and  in 
Clement,  one  of  the  most  noted  founders  of-  the  school  of  theology 
at  Alexandria. 

Among  the  leaders  in  the  third  century  we  may  mention  Origen 
and  Cyprian.  Origen  stands  out  as  the  greatest  luminary  of  his. 
age,  and  his  influence  as  an  instructor  of  the  clergy  as  well  as  an 
author  was  very  extensive.  He  met  the  fate  of  his  master,  Ignatius, 
and  thousands  of  others,  in  a  martyr's  death.  Cyprian,  Bishop  of 
Carthage,  took  part  in  the  celebrated  dispute  concerning  the  validity 
of  baptism  conferred  by  heretics.  He  wrote  mainly  on  Church 
Government  and  discipline,  and  he  also  suffered  martyrdom. 

From  this  it  will  appear  how  frequent  were  the  persecutions 
during  those  years.  In  the  second  century  we  find  two  great  perse- 
cutions, while  during  the  third  century  the  sixth,  seventh,  eighth, 
ninth  and  tenth  persecutions  of  Christians  took  place  under  Roman 
authority.  The  catacombs  of  Rome  belong  to  this  period,  being 
used  as  places  of  burial  by  the  Christians,  who  did  not  wish  to 
cremate  their  dead  as  did  the  Romans.  They  also  served  as  meet- 
ing-places for  the  Christians  during  the  worst  persecutions,  though 
at  other  times  the  homes  of  members  were  used  for  gatherings. 
Public  churches  began  to  be  built  during  the  third  century,  and 
were  modeled  after  the  Roman  basilica,  which  was  a  court  house 
and  exchange. 

During  these  troubled  years  the  Bishops  came  to  have  new 
responsibilities  and  greater  influence.  Originally  the  Bishops,  of 
whom  the  Apostle  James  was  the  first,  were  expected  to  be  over- 
seers and  shepherds,  but  now  various  newr  powers  were  given  to 
them.  This  enabled  them  to  guard'  their  people  against  heresies, 
and  aid  them  in  many  ways,  but  also  opened  the  door  for  that  abuse 
of  power  which  later  became  so  serious  a  menace  to  the  Church. 

Eusebius,  Ambrose,  Chrysostom,  Jerome  and  Augustine  belong 
to  the  next  period  of  Church  history,  but  we  may  mention  them 
here  because  they  were  among  the  most  famous  of  the  Church 
Fathers.  Eusebius,  Bishop  of  Csesarea,  sometimes  called  "the 
Father  of  Church  History,"  was  a  celebrated  theologian  and  histo- 
rian. Ambrose,  Bishop  of  Milan,  was  a  champion  of  the  Catholics 
against  the  Arians  and  pagans,  and  powerful  enough  to  force  the 
Emperor  Theodosius  to  do  penance  for  ordering  a  massacre.    John, 


8 

patriarch  of  Constantinople,  was  called  Chrysostom,  "  the  golden  - 
mouthed,"  on  account  of  his  eloquence.  Jerome  is  best  known  by 
his  Latin  version  of  the  Bible,  called  the  Vulgate,  which  is  still  used 
by  the  Roman  Catholics.  Augustine,  bishop  of  Hippo,  was  a  teacher, 
preacher,  and  writer  of  incessant  activity,  and  in  distinction  and  in 
wide-spread  and  lasting  influence  he  was  the  foremost  of  the  Latin 
Church  Fathers. 

313  is  the  date  of  Constantine  the  Great,  who  is  said  to  have 
seen  in  the  sky  a  flaming  cross,  with  the  inscription,  "  By  this  con- 
quer." He  won  the  battle,  became  a  Christian,  and  is  called  the 
first  Christian  emperor.  One  of  his  first  acts  was  to  issue  an  edict 
of  religious  toleration,  which  gave  the  Christian  Church  legal  recog- 
nition, and  freed  them  from  the  terrible  persecutions  which  they  had 
so  long  endured. 


THE  ROMAN  AND  THE  GREEK  CHURCHES, 
313—800  A.  D. 

The  conversion  of  Constantine  to  the  Christian  faith,  marked 
the  beginning  of  an  epoch.  The  entire  Roman  empire,  which  before 
had  been  the  champion  of  paganism  and  the  persecutor  of  Christian- 
ity, now  became  its  protector  and  patron.  Constantine  was  born  in 
the  year  274.  His  mother  was  a  Christian,  but  the  time  or  circum- 
stances of  her  conversion  are  not  known.  She  had  instructed  him 
in  the  Christian  tenets,  and  when  he  had  his  famous  vision  of  the 
cross  in  the  oky,  he  was  convinced  and  set  about  paying  his  alle- 
giance to  this  new  faith.  Whether  this  was  done  as  a  political 
scheme  is  not  clear,  but  he  did  make  faith  in  the  Christians'  God 
the  standard  throughout  the  empire.  He  did  not  persecute  the 
pagans  however,  but  instituted  a  very  tolerant  policy  over  against 
the  same.  That  he  himself  was  not  fully  weaned  from  faith  in  the 
pagan  gods  is  claimed  by  some,  and  it  may  be  true  to  a  certain 
extent,  but,  in  the  main,  he  upheld  and  spread  the  principles  of 
Christianity. 

At  the  time  of  his  death,  however,  his  son,  Constantius,  came 
into  possession  of  the  Roman  empire.  His  policy  was  just  opposite 
from  the  tolerant  policy  of  his  father.  He  made  all  who  would  not 
accept  Christianity,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  empire,  leave  the  realm 
or  suffer  death,  and  thus  the  new  faith  became  more  firmly  estab- 
lished in  the  East,  but  it  lost  its  hold  on  the  people,  who  now  hated 
it  because  of  Constantius'  persecutions.  In  the  West,  however,  he 
did  not  adopt  as  bold  an  attitude,  and  was  more  tolerant.  Many  of 
the  old  Roman  families  who  held  to  the  pagan  faith  were  powerful 


and  influential,  and  he  could  not  risk  the  sacrifice  of  their  friendship, 
and  so  allowed  them  freedom  of  belief.  By  his  tolerant  policy  in 
the  Western  part  of  his  empire,  pagan  superstitions  became  mixed 
with  the  new  faith,  and  so  corrupted  it  that  it  was  not  recognized  in 
the  East  as  pure.  Naturally,  this  pagan  tendency  caused  the  Church 
life  to  degenerate  to  a  great  extent,  and  this  reached  its  climax  under 
the  emperor  Julian,  called  the  Apostate,  the  cousin  of  Constantius, 
who  succeeded  to  the  empire.  His  eager  mind,  naturally  imagina- 
tive, made  him  a  suitable  leader  for  this  degenerate  type  of  Chris- 
tianity. He  secretly  embraced  the  pagan  faith,  and  as  supreme 
pontiff  personally  conducted  ceremonies  and  sacrifices.  He  tolerated 
'Christianity,  but  in  order  to  bring  it  into  disrepute  he  encouraged 
all  other  religions  and  all  sectarian  controversies.  It  seemed  that 
the  Christian  faith  in  the  Roman  empire  was  doomed,  but  after 
Julian's  death,  and  the  tolerant  policy  of  the  next  emperor,  it  again 
became  dominant  in  the  empire,  and  from  this  time  the  pagan  relig- 
ion seemed  to  lose  its  hold,  and  slowly  weakened  before  the  more 
powerful  Christian  faith. 

A  new  danger  now  faced  the  Roman  emperors.  The  West 
Goths,  on  their  borders,  had  adopted  Christianity,  through  the 
preaching  of  Ulphilas,  who  had  gone  into  their  country  as  a  mission- 
ary from  the  East.  He  became  a  Bishop,  and  had  great  success  as 
a  leader  among  the  West  Goths.  He  desired  to  penetrate  with  his 
preaching  into  the  country  of  the  East  Goths,  but  they  would  net 
receive  him.  His  people  were  persecuted  by  the  East  Goths  and  he 
obtained  permission  to  bring  a  party  of  his  West  Goths  across  the 
Danube  for  protection,  and  thus  they  came  into  the  limits  of  the 
Roman  empire.  They  became  greatly  incensed  at  the  avarice  and 
intolerance  of  some  of  the  Roman  nobles,  and  Valens,  Emperor  of 
the  East,  was  killed.  The  empire  seemed  to  be  tottering,  and  only 
by  the  skill  of  Theodosius,  hastily  made  Regent  of  the  East,  was  it 
kept  from  ruin.  He  checked  the  progress  of  the  Goths,  and  again 
restored  the  Roman  empire.  He  favored  the  Nicean  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  and  tried  by  severe  measures  to  suppress  Arianism,  and  a 
General  Council  was  called  in  381,  to  meet  in  Constantinople,  which 
reaffirmed  the  Nicean  doctrine. 

Theodosius,  now  Emperor,  tried  by  harsh  and  inhuman  laws 
to  crush  out  the  remnants  of  paganism,  but  never  fully  succeeded. 
During  this  time  a  new  leader  had  sprung  up  among  the  West 
Goths  in  Alaric,  who,  in  410,  captured  and  sacked  Rome  and  dealt 
the  death  blow  to  Paganism  in  the  Roman  empire.  The  ancient 
shrines  and  temples  were  ordered  pillaged  and  burned,  and  the 
patrician  families,  who  were  its  staunch  est  supporters,  were  either 
destroyed  or  scattered. 

While  the  Western  part  of  the  Roman  empire  was  thus  passing 
through  a  stormy  time,  and  the  pure  Christian  belief  suffered  by 


10 

being  mixed  with  paganism,  the  Eastern  portion,  with  Constanti- 
nople as  a  center,  was  being  slowly  and  firmly  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity. It  seemed  to  overpower  without  much  effort  the  old  beliefs, 
and  was  soon  firmly  established  as  a  better  faith,  and  thus  a  purer- 
type  of  Christianity  sprang  up  at  once  in  the  Eastern  part,  free 
from  corruption  by  pagan  superstition  and  ancient  philosophy. 

Ever  since  the  day  when  Constantine  established  his  capital  at: 
Constantinople,  there  had  been  more  or  less  division  between  the- 
Eastern  and  Western  portions  of  the  empire.  Sometimes  there  were 
two  or  more  Emperors,  nominally  ruling  conjointly,  sometimes  one 
man  would  get  all  the  power  into  his  hands  and  rule  alone,  but: 
always  there  was  an  East  and  a  West.  In  395  there  was  a  definite 
and  final  separation  into  two  empires,  though  the  Church  for  a  time 
continued  as  one. 

About  the  end  of  the  fifth  century,  the  Franks,  another  Ger- 
manic tribe,   poured   down   upon  Southern  Europe,  and  overcame 
the  earlier  bands  who  had  seized  Gaul  and  Italy.    Their  king,  Clovis, 
had  vowed  to  become  a  Christian  if  he  won  a  certain   battle,  and1 
being  the  victor  he  and  three  thousand  of  his  warriors  were  baptised. 

While  these  political  disruptions  and  changes  were  taking  place 
the  Church  was  gradually  being  built  into  a  strong  organization. 
The  Bishops  of  the  larger  towns  soon  became  prominent,  and  con- 
sidered above  the  smaller  ones,  and  the  two  dioceses  of  Rome  and 
Constantinople  loomed  up  above  all,  one  in  the  East  and  one  in  the 
West  of  the  empire.  The  Church  Councils  gave  to  these  two  cities 
and  their  respective  bishops  the  highest  rank.  Soon,  however,  Rome 
took  to  itself  the  prerogative  of  being  called  the  first  or  highest 
bishopric,  and  the  bishop  took  the  name  of  "pope."  Siricuis, 
Bishop  of  Rome  from  384  to  398,  so  styled  himself,  but  for  many 
years  the  title  was  applied  to  any  bishop,  gradually  becoming 
restricted  to  the  more  prominent.  Leo  I,  who  was  pope  of  Rome 
440  to  461,  was  a  man  of  strong  will  and  great  courage.  He  saved 
Rome  from  Attila  and  the  Huns  in  452,  and  was  foremost  in  defense 
of  the  city  when  the  weak  Emperor  Honorius  was  in  hiding.  He 
also  considered  himself  the  spiritual  leader  of  the  Roman  empire, 
and  so  proclaimed  himself  to  the  world.  The  Council  of  Chalcedon- 
said  the  first  rank  rightly  belonged  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  as  it  was. 
the  ancient  capital  of  the  empire.  Leo,  however,  spurned  this  idea, 
and  claimed  the  prerogative  because  he  was  the  successor  of  Peter, 
the  chief  of  the  Apostles,  vicar  of  Christ,  and  the  first  Bishop  of 
Rome.  He  skillfully  used  the  powerful  political  position  of  Rome, 
and  interwove  it  with  the  churchly  consideration.  This  started  the 
breach  between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches,  which  was  to- 
end  in  their  final  separation.  One  of  the  chief  reasons  of  this  wid- 
ening breach  between  the  East  and  the  West  was  the  difference  in 
temperament  of  the  Greek  and  Latin.     The  Greek  in  the  East  had'' 


11 

discussions  concerning  the  Trinity  and  person  of  Christ,  which  suited 
the  speculative  mind  of  the  Greek,  while  in  the  West  the  Latin 
mind  was  more  interested  in  such  practical  subjects  as  sin  and  the 
recovery  of  man  by  divine  grace.  Thus  a  natural  tendency  was 
drawing  them  apart.  The  greatest  controversy  which  harrassed 
the  Church  at  that  time  was  the  so-called  Arian  controversy  relating 
to  the  divinity  of  Christ.  Begun  by  Arius  in  the  third  century  the 
controversy  continued,  until  at  the  Council  of  Toledo  in  Spain  in 
580  A.  D.  the  "  rilioque  "  was  inserted  into  the  Creed,  by  which  it 
was  made  to  affirm  that  the  Spirit  proceeded  from  the  Father  ' '  and 
the  Son"  instead  of  only  from  the  Father  as  it  formerly  stood. 
This  addition  was  not  acceptable  to  the  Eastern  Church,  and  caused 
the  final  separation  between  Greek  in  the  East  and  Latin,  in  the 
West,  though  opportunity  had  long  been  sought  for  separation. 
Thus,  the  Greek  Church  has  remained  to  this  day,  though  nomi- 
nally recognizing  the  Pope  as  head  it  does  not  obey  his  mandates 
implicitly,  and  has  its  own  patriarchs  and  metropolitans.  Thiey 
differ  from  the  Roman  Church  in  a  number  of  smaller  details,  but 
this  in  the  main  is  their  point  of  difference. 

The  Greek  Church  is  now  the  national  Church  of  Russia,  and 
of  Greece,  with  a  small  following  elsewhere.  The  Roman  Church, 
more  generally  known  as  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  is  widely 
spread,  and  has  played  an  important  part  in  the  political  as  well  as 
in  the  religious  history  of  the  world. 

During  the  years  from  589  to  800  the  Roman  Church  grew 
greatly  in  numbers  and  political  influence.  Missionaries  went  to 
England,  to  Germany,  and  to  Hungary,  where  they  met  with  much 
opposition  but  ultimate  success.  On  the  other  hand,  the  rise  of  the 
Mohammedan  religion,  622  A.  D. ,  its  rapid  growth,  and  armed 
advance  into  Europe,  threatened  the  Church  and  all  the  western 
states  with  extermination,  from  which  they  were  saved  by  the 
Franks,  under  Charles  Martel. 

But  Christianity  had,  unhappily,  parted  with  its  ancient  purity 
and  simplicity.  The  kingdom  of  God  had  become  identified 
with  the  visible  Church,  through  whose  mediation,  it  was  thought, 
salvation  alone  was  possible,  and  obedience  to  whose  laws  was  often 
the  sum  of  the  requirements  laid  on  converts.  The  inner,  living 
power  of  the  Gospel  was  still  in  being,  but  hidden  under  much 
formalism.  Images  and  relics  came  to  be  greatly  venerated,  and 
the  sale  of  "  indulgences"  commenced.  The  power  of  the  Pope  at 
Rome  gained  new  strength,  and  became  a  factor  in  all  important 
political  changes  in  western  Europe ;  and  when,  on  Dec.  25,  800, 
at  St.  Peter's  Cathedral  in  Rome,  the  Pope  crowned  the  Frankish 
king,  Charlemagne,  Emperor  of  the  "Holy  Roman  Empire,"  it 
typified  the  close  relation  in  which  Church  and  State  stood  and 
were  to  stand  for  many  a  century. 


12 


The  Church  in  Bohemia,  800==1457  A.  D. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  BOHEMIA,  800—1394  A.  D. 

If  Rome  was  the  scene  of  the  first  great  struggles  of  Christian- 
ity, when  a  handful  of  persecuted  Christians  became  a  powerful 
organization,  and  the  despised  "sect"  grew  into  the  honored 
Church  to  which  kings  and  emperors  paid  due  homage  ;  if  Rome 
witnessed  the  development  of  Christianity  into  a  great  world  power, 
Bohemia  was  the  battle-field  in  the  second  and  equally  vital  cam- 
paign, when  the  contest  was  between  a  religion  overburdened  with 
rites  and  ceremonies,  and  a  simple  faith, — between  spiritual  ignor- 
ance and  a  Bible  which  all  might  read.  A  lust  for  power  had  come 
upon  the  leaders,  Bible  knowledge  was  withheld  from  the  people 
that  they  might  be  more  easily  led,  and  imposing  ritual  had  taken 
the  place  of  intelligent  worship.  It  was  against  this  false  superstruc- 
ture that  the  attack  in  Bohemia  was  made,  that  "  true  religion  and 
undefiled  "  might  be  saved  to  the  world. 

The  little  kingdom  of  Bohemia  lies  in  the  north-western  corner 
of  the  Austrian  empire.  It  is  quite  small,  not  half  the  size  of  North 
Carolina,  but  very  fertile,  and  the  natural  rampart  formed  by  the 
mountain  chains  on  all  four  sides  gave  to  its  people  in  earlier  years  a 
sense  of  independence  which  enhanced  their  natural  love  of  freedom. 

The  beginnings  of  Bohemian  history  are  shrouded  in  uncer- 
tainty. Attila  and  his  Huns  laid  waste  the  country  on  their  retreat 
from  Rome,  and  the  inhabitants  who  escaped  with  their  lives  fell  an 
easy  prey  to  the  Czechs,  a  band  of  Slavonians,  who  about  that  time 
came  into  the  country,  tradition  says  from  the  Carpathian  Moun- 
tains. During  the  next  centuries  these  Czechs  lived  quietly,  culti- 
vating the  soil,  and  selling  grain  and  horses  to  the,  neighboring 
nations.  Their  religion  somewhat  resembled  the  Grecian  mythol- 
ogy, with  numerous  gods  and  goddesses,  nymphs  and  demons. 

South-east  of  Bohemia  lies  the  still  smaller  province  of  Moravia, 
whose  history  has  always  been  linked  with  that  of  Bohemia,  and 
through  Moravia  Christianity  made  its  first  entrance  into  that  region. 
In  836  Prince  Mojmir  of  Moravia  learned  of  it  from  the  Franks, 
accepted  it,  and  built  three  churches  ;  in  845  fourteen  Bohemian 


13 

noblemen  were  baptised  while  on  a  visit  to  the  Germans  ;  but  neither 
incident  affected  the  people  as  a  whole. 

In  846  Rastislaw  become  Duke  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  He 
wanted  to  shake  off  the  power  of  the  Franks,  so  when  he  desired 
Christian  teachers  for  his  people  he  sent,  not  to  the  Roman  but  to 
the  Greek  branch  of  the  Church. 

In  answer  to  his  appeal  Cyrill  and  Methodius  came  to  Moravia 
in  863,  and  with  them  the  history  of  Christianity  in  Bohemia  and 
Moravia  really  begins.  Cyrill  and  Methodius  were  brothers,  earnest 
and  devout  men,  who  had  already  labored  successfully  in  other 
fields,  winning  to  the  side  of  Christianity  nations  that  had  long  been 
its  wild  and  formidable  foes,  and  they  brought  to  their  new  work 
methods  which  were  sure  to  win  the  hearts  of  the  people.  They 
finished  a  Slavonian  translation"  of  the  Bible,  which  Cyrill  had 
already  begun  ;  they  read  the  Bible  to  the  people,  and  preached  in 
their  own  language  ;  they  trained  young  Czechs  as  priests  ;  they 
built  up  a  national  Church,  in  which  the  Czechs  felt  at  home. 

But  the  Roman  Church  heard  of  their  success,  and  determined 
to  claim  the  work  on  the  ground  that  the  first  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity into  the  country  had  come  through  its  members.  Cyrill 
and  Methodius  were  summoned  to  Rome,  but  Pope  Nicholas  died 
before  they  arrived.  His  successor,  Adrian  II,  thought  it  would  be 
to  his  advantage  to  have  Bohemia  and  Moravia  comprise  a  diocese 
independent  of  both  the  German  Bishops  and  the  Gieek  Patriarch, 
and  directly  tributary  to  him,  so  he  received  the  missionaries  very 
graciously,  approved  of  all  they  had  done,  and  offered  to  make  them 
Bishops.  Cyrill,  whose  health  was  failing,  declined  the  honor,  and 
died  a  few  weeks  later,  but  Methodius  promised  him  obedience,  and 
was  consecrated  Archbishop  of  Pannonia,  which  was  the  ancient 
name  of  that  diocese.  He  returned  to  Moravia,  and  under  his  guid- 
ance the  good  work  spread  into  Bohemia,  and  the  first  Christian 
church  was  built  near  Prague. 

The  jealousy  of  the  German  bishops  then  became  more  intense, 
and  they  complained  at  Rome  until  Methodius  was  again  called 
thither,  and  while  he  triumphantly  vindicated  his  course  the  Pope 
ordered  that  the  Gospels  must  be  publicly  read  first  in  Latin  and 
then  in  Slavonian,  and  a  German  suffragan,  or  assistant  bishop,  was 
appointed.  From  this  small  beginning  the  power  of  the  Roman 
Church  increased  until  Bohemia  and  Moravia  were  entirely  in  their 
hands. 

The  Czechish  language  and  the  Greek  ritual  fell  into  disuse, 
and  the  native  priests  were  driven  out,  in  spite  of  the  pleas  and 
demands  of  the  common  people.  The  nobility,  and  such  of  the 
inhabitants  as  traded  with  Germany,  favored  the  Roman  Church  ; 
the  Latin  language,  the  Roman  ritual  and  doctrines  were  introduced, 
and  a  German  was  made  their  bishop.      Now  and  then  a  Bohemian 


14 

ruler  would  re-awaken  the  national  spirit,  and  a  new  attempt  would 
be  made  to  regain  their  Bible,  and  the  Slavonian  Church,  but  it  was 
in  vain,  and  religious  liberty  slumbered  for  two  centuries  and  a  half. 

About  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  signs  began  to 
appear  that  the  medieval  Church-system  was  breaking  up.  It  had 
bound  the  human  mind  in  its  icy  fetters  for  ages,  but  it  could  not 
bind  the  Spirit  whom  God  had  sent.  Under  His  divine  influences  a 
reaction  set  in,  and  slowly  gained  strength  until  it  burst  forth  as  an 
overwhelming  flood.  Men  began  to  think  for  themselves,  not 
simply  as  the  Church  commanded,  and  here  and  there 'some  one 
came  to  the  opinion  that  the  Bible  should  be  the  standard  of  belief, 
and  not  doctrines  which  the  Church  had  created.  But  so  strong 
was  the  hold  of  ignorance  and  error  that  people  learned  slowly. 

In  1347  Charles  (later  known  as  Charles  IV,  Emperor  of  Ger- 
many, )  became  King  of  Bohemia,  and  under  his  guidance  it  entered 
a  golden  age  of  material  prosperity.  He  took  Bohemia  away  from  the 
archbishopric  of  Mayence,  and  created  an  archbishopric  of  Prague; 
he  organized  the  Slavonian  Monastery  of  Emmaus,  and  founded 
the  University  of  Prague.  He  meant  to  make  Bohemia  great,  and 
to  advance  the  cause  of  the  Roman  Church,  but  the  result  was  not 
what  he  expected.  There  was  a  re-awakening  of  the  Christian  life 
of  Bohemia  under  the  first  archbishop  of  Prague,  a  man  of  apostolic 
ways.  The  Slavonian  Ritual,  although  in  a  Romish  form,  and  the 
Czech  language,  were  used  in  the  Monastery  at  Emmaus  ;  and  the 
renewed  spirit  of  national  life,  with  its  traditions  of  true  and  free 
religion,  became  a  power  in  the  University,  which  soon  grew  to  be 
one  of  the  greatest  in  Europe,  and  which  sent  forth  John  Huss,  one 
of  the  epoch- makers  of  history. 

Three  forerunners  prepared  the  way  for  his  coming,  Conrad  of 
Waldhausen,  Milic  of  Kremsier,  and  Matthias  von  Janow.  Conrad 
was  a  distinguished  preacher,  who  settled  in  Bohemia  about  1360. 
He  had  been  on  c.  pilgrimage  to  Rome  some  years  before,  and  was 
deeply  impressed  by  the  multitudes  who  swarmed  into  the  city,  paid 
the  price  of  absolution  without  one  thought  of  repentance,  and  im- 
mediately fell  into  fresh  sin.  After  that,  with  a  boldness  that  came 
from  God,  he  exposed  the  vices  of  the  times,  and  called  sinners  to 
repentance.  He  met  with  wonderful  success  in  Bohemia,  and  in 
spite  of  fierce  opposition  from  the  priests  he  continued  to  teach  the 
necessity  of  a  living  Christianity,  of  a  renewal  of  the  heart,  and  of 
saving  faith  in  Christ. 

Milic  laid  aside  wealth  and  power  in  Church  and  State  in  order 
to  serve  the  Lord  in  poverty  and  lowliness.  He  was  an  eloquent 
speaker,  and  though  of  a  mystical  turn  of  mind,  he  stirred  the  spirit 
of  the  people  to  its  depths  with  his  solemn  protest  against  the  vices 
of  the  aee,  his  earnest  call  for  a  General  Council  that  the  Church 


15 

might  be  reformed,  and  his  plea  for  the  preaching  of  the  pure  Gos- 
pel that  the  spiritual  kingdom  of  Christ  might  spread. 

Matthias,  a  pupil  of  Milic,  was  a  writer,  not  a  preacher.  His 
position  was  bold  and  evangelical,  and  the  truths  which  he  set  forth 
were  as  a  trumpet  blast  that  announced  the  coming  reformer.  He 
died  in  1394,  one  year  after  John  Huss  took  his  first  degree  at  the 
University  of  Prague. 


HUSS  AND  THE  HUSSITES,  1394—1457. 

John  Huss  was  born  at  Husinec,  Bohemia  ;  the  day  and  year 
of  his  birth  are  uncertain,  but  thought  to  be  July  6,  1369. 

His  parents  were  peasants,  though  in  good  circumstances.  Of 
his  early  life  nothing  is  known.  He  studied  at  the  University  of 
Prague,  where  he  soon  attracted  attention  by  his  great  scholarship. 
He  was  graduated  from  this  place  in  1396,  receiving  the  Master's 
degree.  He  was  appointed  University  lecturer  two  years  later,  and 
held  this  chair  for  some  time,  lecturing  on  the  doctrines  and  prac- 
tices of  the  Romish  Church. 

In  1401  he  was  elected  Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Philosophy,  and 
here  again  demonstrated  his  great  depth  of  learning  and  breadth  of 
scholarship.  For  the  next  two  years  he  labored  here,  and  was  then 
•made  rector  of  the  University,  which  position  he  likewise  filled  in 
an  able  manner. 

He  was  also,  in  the  year  1402,  ordained  to  the  priesthood,  and 
in  addition  to  his  professorship  preached  in  the  Bethlehem  Chapel 
at  Prague. 

He  read  some  of  the  writings  of  Wyclif,  and  became  inspired 
in  such  a  measure  that  he  sought  to  spread  the  doctrines  among 
the  Bohemians. 

Being  the  preacher  of  the  Bethlehem  Chapel,  University  pro- 
fessor, and  private  confessor  to  the  queen,  his  utterances  carried 
great  weight  with  them. 

He  attacked  first  of  all  the  Court,  with  its  vices,  and  condemned 
them  in  strong  terms.  Then  he  took  the  priests  to  task  for  their 
loose  manner  of  living,  and  especially  for  the  sale  of  indulgences. 

In  1403  he  was  forbidden  by  the  authorities  of  the  University 
to  discuss  these  questions  in  the  lecture  room  or  in  the  pulpit.  In 
1410  the  Pope,  John  XXIII,  issued  a  bull  against  the  teachings  of 
Wyclif  as  heretical,  and  ordered  them  burned,  and  as  Huss  had 
been  denouncing  the  same  things  as  Wyclif,  he  was  ordered  to 
cease  from  speaking  against  the  Church.  He  and  his  followers 
were  placed  under  the  ban  of  the  Church  and  ordered  to  appear 
before  the  next  General  Council. 


16 

In  1412  Pope  John  XXIII  proclaimed  a  crusade  against  the 
King  of  Naples,  and  promised  indulgence  to  all  who  volunteered 
for  service.  Huss  now  took  up  the  matter  of  indulgences,  and 
denounced  the  practice  as  wrong,  which  caused  a  breach  between 
himself  and  the  Church  of  Rome. 

In  1412  a  Papal  interdict  was  issued  against  him.  He  appealed 
to  the  Council  and  to  Christ,  and  feeling  himself  no  longer  safe  in 
Prague  withdrew  to  the  castle  of  a  friendly  nobleman. 

In  Nov.,  1414,  in  obedience  to  a  summons  from  the  Pope,, 
under  the  protection  of  the  King  of  Bohemia  and  with  a  promised 
safe-conduct  from  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  he  went  to  the  Council, 
convened  at  Constance. 

He  may  have  fancied  that  he  would  at  that  time  have  an  oppor- 
tunity to  defend  his  views  in  open  debate,  but  in  this  he  was  mis- 
taken, and  soon  learned  that  he  was  to  be  tried  as  a  heretic.  He 
was  kept  imprisoned  a  long  time,  was  treated  with  great  cruelty, 
and  not  formally  accused  until  June  5th,  1415. 

On  June  7th  thirty-nine  charges  were  made  against  him,  some 
of  which  he  acknowledged  as  based  upon  his  teachings,  while  others 
grossly  misrepresented  them,  and  upon  being  asked  to  recant  his 
teachings  he  refused  to  do  so  unless  they  could  be  proven  wrong. 

The  formal  trial  and  execution  of  Huss  took  place  about  a 
month  later,  and  the  events  of  that  day  have  been  thus  described  : 

"  On  Saturday,  July  6,  1415,  there  was  great  excitement  in  the 
city  of  Constance, — the  largest  Council  that  had  ever  been  held  in 
this  city  was  in  session.  From  all  parts  of  the  Western  world  dis- 
tinguished men  had  come.  Pope  John  XXIII  was  there  ;  Emperor 
Sigismund  was  there  ;  there  were  a  thousand  Bishops,  over  two 
thousand  Doctors  and  Masters — about  two  thousand  Counts,  with 
Barons  and  Knights,  Dukes,  Princes,  Ambassadors  —  in  all  over 
50,000  strangers.  And  now,  after  months  of  discussion,  the  Coun- 
cil assembled  in  the  cathedral,  to  settle  once  for  all  what  should  be 
done  with  John  Huss. ' '  '  'But  why  was  John  Huss  there  ?  And  what 
had  he  done  to  offend  the  Pope  and  Emperor  ?  For  the  last  twelve 
months  John  Huss  had  been  the  leading  figure  in  Bohemia.  He 
had  raised  his  voice  against  the  vices  of  the  people, — against  priest, 
clergy,  archbishop  !  He  had  gone  further  still  in  declaring  that 
Christ  was  the  only  true  head  of  the  Church,  and  that  the  Pope  was 
not  to  be  obeyed  unless  he  taught  that  the  Bible  and  not  the  Church 
was  the  true  standard  of  faith  ;  that  the  Pope  had  not  the  keys  of 
heaven  ;  that  man  could  be  forgiven  by  God  only,  through  faith  and 
repentance  ;  that  the  supposed  miracles  worked  by  the  saints  were 
a  fraud  ;  that  the  priests  who  duped  the  people  by  the  sale  of  indul- 
gences were  servants  not  of  Christ  but  of  the  Devil."  Indulgences 
had  become  a  mammoth  traffic — any  one  could  procure  a  pardon 
for  sin  and  a  safe  entrance  into  the  eternal  world.  Any  one  received 


17 

■a  pardon  from  sin  who  would  fight  for  the  causes  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  ;  the  buying  of  a  bone,  or  a  lock  of  hair,  or  a  piece 
of  garment,  a  finger  or  toe  nail  of  some  saint,  obtained  promised 
pardon  for  sins,  past  and  future,  and  large  sums  were  paid  to  the 
priests,  who  travelled  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  robbing 
the  poor  and  ignorant,  the  grieved  and  troubled,  even  selling  at 
great  prices  pardons  for  friends  who  had  already  departed.  "All 
this  is  in  vain,"  said  Huss,  "  God  alone  can  forgive  sins,  through 
Christ." 

"  And  now  John  Huss  stood  before  the  Council.  His  face  was 
pale,  his  limbs  were  weak  and  trembling  from  many  months  in  the 
dungeons.  Short  and  sharp  was  the  public  trial,  for  the  trial  was 
but  a  sham.  He  was  condemned  to  death  as  a  heretic  ;  his  priestly 
robes  were  taken  from  him  ;  a  fool's  cap  a  yard  high,  with  pictures 
•of  Devils  painted  on  all  sides,  was  placed  upon  the  hero's  head  ;  in 
this  seeming  disgrace  he  was  led  to  a  meadow,  outside  the  city.  He 
was  bound  to  a  stake  with  seven  moist  thongs  and  a  chain,  and 
fagots  of  dry  wrood  were  piled  about  him  to  the  chin. 

"  As  the  flames  arose  and  the  wood  crackled,  he  sang,  'Christ, 
thou  Son  of  the  living  God,  have  mercy  upon  me  !'  ' 

Thus  the  great  reformer  passed,  as  by  a  chariot  of  fire,  into  the 
presence  of  the  Master,  who  had  died  for  him,  and  who  has  said  : 
"  To  him  that  endureth  to  the  end  will  I  give  a  crown  of  life."  His 
ashes  were  gathered  and,  together  with  the  ground  on  which  the 
stake  had  stood,  were  thrown  into  the  Rhine. 

Nearly  a  year  later,  May  30th,  1416,  Jerome  of  Prague  suffered 
martyrdom  on  the  same  spot.  He  was  the  most  intimate  friend  and 
active  helper  of  John  Huss,  a  highly  gifted  man,  an  acute  reasoner 
and  eloquent  speaker,  but  of  a  restless  disposition  and  fiery  temper. 
He  came  to  Constance  to  help  Huss,  but  was  advised  by  friends 
that  it  was  of  no  use.  and  that  he  must  return  to  Bohemia  as  quickly 
as  possible.  This  he  attempted  to  do,  but  was  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned, suffering  much  in  mind  and  body,  but  dying  with  the  same 
fortitude  which  Huss  displayed. 

The  day  Huss  suffered  death  at  the  stake  was  a  sad  day  for 
Bohemia.  His  followers  were  insulted  by  their  leader's  death,  it 
angered  them,  it  grieved  them,  they  felt  cut  to  the  heart.  A  Huss- 
ite League  was  formed,  whose  members  pledged  themselves  to  act 
in  unison,  to  allow  free  preaching  of  the  Gospel  on  their  estates,  etc. 
A  Catholic  League  was  formed  in  opposition,  but  for  four  years 
nothing  of  moment  took  place. 

Then  the  Hussite  Wars  began,  and  for  sixteen  years  Bohemia, 
single-handed,  defied~  all  Europe.  Famine  stalked  through  the 
villages,  blood-red  war  defiled  the  valleys,  party  after  party  rose 
and  fell,  houses  were  burnt,  families  murdered,  and  death  haunted 
the  land. 


18 

Sigismund,  now  also  King  of  Bohemia,  was  determined  to 
crush  what  he  called  heresy  in  that  province,  and  persuaded  the 
Pope  to  begin  a  crusade  against  the  Hussites,  who  found  their  great- 
est leader  in  John  Ziska,  the  blind  leader  of  the  Taoorite  party. 
He  formed  the  rough  Bohemian  peasantry  into  a  disciplined  army, 
armed  them  with  lances,  spears,  iron- pointed  flails,  clubs  and  slings. 
He  led  his  men  to  battle  to  the  sound  of  psalms  and  hymns,  and 
won  victory  after  victory,  and  never  lost  a  battle.  After  his  death 
in  1424  Procop  the  Great  took  his  place  as  leader,  and  gained  fresh 
victories,  until  Europe  was  forced  to  admit  that  Bohemia  could  not 
be  conquered  by  force  of  arms. 

Unfortunately,  however,  the  Hussites  had  from  the  first  been 
divided  amongst  themselves,  and  stood  united  only  when  great 
danger  threatened  them  from  without.  The  two  chief  parties  were 
the  Utraquists,  or  Calixtines,  and  the  Taborites.  The  name  of  the 
former  denotes  the  chief  point  of  their  contention  {sub  2itraque — 
under  both  kinds,  calix — a  cup,)  which  was  that  the  laity  should 
receive  both  the  bread  and  the  wine  in  the  Lord's  Supper,  whereas 
the  Catholics  had  come  to  permit  only  the  clergy  to  take  the  cup. 
The  Utraquists  were  the  conservative  and  aristocratic  party,  who 
hoped  for  reunion  wilh  Rome,  when  the  Romish  Church  had  been 
purified.  The  Taborites,  so  called  from  their  meeting  place,  Mount 
Tabor,  were  progressive  and  democratic.  They  accepted  the  Bible 
as  the  only  source  of  faith  and  rule  of  practice,  and  they  went  far 
beyond  the  Utraquists  in  antipathy  to  the  Church  of  Rome.  The* 
scriptural  character  of  their  system  was,  however,  marred  by  ex- 
treme views  and,  at  times,  by  fanaticism.  The  great  Ziska  belonged 
to  the  Taborites,  and  after  his  death  his  immediate  followers  assumed 
the  name  of  Orphans,  and  became  a  third  faction,  occupying  a  middle 
position  between  the  other  two. 

In  1433  a  Council  of  the  Romish  Church  met  at  Basle,  and  the 
Hussites  were  invited  to  send  delegates.  They  did  so,  and  after 
much  debate  an  agreement  was  reached  whereby  concessions  were 
secured  for  Bohemia  which  satisfied  the  Utraquists.  But  the 
Taborites  and  Orphans  were  not  content,  and  in  1434  the  battle  of 
Lipan  was  fought,  the  Taborites  were  utterly  defeated,  and  the 
Utraquist  Church  became  the  National  Church  of  Bohemia,  with 
John  of  Rokycana  at  its  head. 

Rokycana  was  a  very  able  man,  but  vain,  greedy  of  popularity, 
and  ambitious,  desiring  above  all  else  to  become  the  spiritual  ruler  of 
Bohemia.  At  first  he  cherished  thoughts  of  reconciliation  with  the 
Romanists,  but  when  he  realized  that  the  Pope  would  not  stand  his 
friend  he  began  to  preach  most  bitterly  against  him,  and  sought  to 
make  the  Utraquists  an  independent  national  Church.  But  the 
Utraquist  Church  itself  was  in  a  bad  way,  and  something  more  was 
needed  before  true  religion  was  restored  to  Bohemia. 


19 

Scattered  throughout  Bohemia  and  Moravia  were  men  who  were 
quietly  trying  to  live  as  Huss  had  taught  them,  not  as  the  Huss- 
ites had  fought,  and  they  were  now  to  be  brought  into  a  union 
which  would  grow  into  the  Church  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  "The 
Unity  of  Brethren."  Remembering  the  doctrines  of  Huss,  stirred 
by  the  strong  sermons  of  Rokycana,  some  of  them  begged  the  elo- 
quent preacher  to  tell  them  what  they  must  do  in  order  to  be  ac- 
cepted of  God.  He  referred  them  to  Peter  of  Chelcic,  next  to  Huss, 
the  greatest  Bohemian  writer  of  the  century.  Little  is  known  of  his, 
personal  history,  but  his  influence  was  great.  In  his  writings  he 
took  an  independent  position  disagreeing  with  both  Utraquists  and 
Taborites  where  he  thought  them  wrong.  Strong  in  his  opinions 
as  to  doctrine,  he  looked  upon  Christianity  as  a  life,  rather  than  a 
creed,  and  taught  that  to  love  God  above  all  and  one's  neighbor  as 
one's  self  is  the  supreme  law.  He  led  Gregory,  and  the  others  who. 
came  with  him,  to  see  that  it  was  not  enough  to  long  and  pray  for 
a  reformation,  but  that  for  such  a  cause  they  must  work,  venture> 
suffer.  His  intercourse  with  these  seekers  after  light  continued  for 
several  years,  and  he  died  about  the  time  the  Unitas  Fratrum  was. 
begun. 

Filled  with  enthusiasm  Gregory  and  his  friends  begged  Roky- 
cana to  lead  a  reformation,  and  when  he  refused  they  began  to  hold 
services  here  and  there,  where  the  Scriptures  were  read  and  ex- 
plained. What  they  most  needed  was  a  rallying  place,  and  such  a 
place  God  showed  them,  and  there  the  Unitas  Fratrum  was  founded.. 


20 


The  Uaitas  Fratrum,  1457-1722  A.  ». 


RISE  OF  THE  UNITAS  FRATRUM,   1457—1473. 

The  years  intervening  between  1457  and  1467  were  peculiarly 
of  a  formative  nature  in  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  The  life  and  work  of 
John  Huss  were  over.  His  followers  had  made  a  noble  fight  for  the 
cause  of  their  leader,  and  many  were  still  ready  to  do  their  best  for 
the  establishment  of  a  pure  Bible  faith.  The  Hussite  Wars  had- 
•devastated  the  land  ;  sufferings  untold  of  men,  women  and  children 
had  filled  it  with  horror. 

Among  those  that  had  arisen  during  this  period  was  one  Peter, 
called  Peter  of  Chelcic,  who  did  not  believe  in  the  sword  and  slaugh- 
ter, but  used  his  pen  against  the  Roman  Cotholic  Church  and  its 
priesthood.  His  pamphlets,  which,  with  the  Bible,  became  the 
literature  of  the  time,  were  read  by  many  with  delight  ;  these  read- 
ers were  called  brethren  of  Chelcic,  and  they  sprang  up  in  different 
parts  of  Bohemia,  so  that  gradually  and  quietly  were  laid  the  foun- 
dation ideas  of  what  afterward  became  the  Church  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum. 

John  Rokycana  was  an  eloquent  preacher,  but  he  proved  to  be 
anything  but  what  was  needed  for  a  reformer.  His  chief  trouble 
was  that  he  could  not  bear  to  be  on  the  unpopular  side.  Convinced, 
he  said  he  was  "that  the  Brethren  were  right,  but  where  was  the 
profit?"  When  asked  to  become  leader  of  the  men  who  had  been 
aroused  partly  by  his  own  preaching,  he  "feared  the  time  was  not 
ripe  for  such  a  movement,"  so  they  forsook  his  standard,  and  circled 
around  one  Gregory,  later  known  as  "  Gregory  the  Patriarch,"  who 
never  failed  them. 

Gregory  was  a  nephew  of  Rokycana,  but  a  wholly  different 
sort  of  man, — a  man  of  strict  morals  and  deep  piety,  ready  to  under- 
take and  endure  all  things  for  God's  honor,  but  humble,  without 
ambition,  seeking  not  his  own.  At  the  time  when  he  became  prom- 
inent he  was  about  fifty  years  of  age.  About  him  gathered  those 
who  wished  to  see  the  establishment  of  a  pure  Church,  and  those 
who  had  studied  the  pamphlets  of  Peter  Chelcic.  From  the  midst 
of  the  Catholic  Church,  from  all  ranks  of  society  they  came,  in  no 


n 

small  companies,  to  join  this  godly  leader,,  witfothis; question  in  their 
faces  and  on  their  lips,  ' '  Where  shall  we  abide  ?  Not  always  car* 
we  wander,  not  always  can  we  hide." 

Rokycana  advised  that  they  settle  in  different  parishes,  where 
the  priests  were  in  sympathy  with  them,  but  Gregory  realized  that 
they  needed  to  be  drawn  more  closely  together,  not  scattered,  and 
at  last  asked  Rokycana  to  secure  permission  for  them  to  settle  in 
the  Barony  of  Senftenberg,  which  belonged  to  George  Podiebrad, 
then  Regent  of  Bohemia.  Rokycana  was  glad  to.  be  rid  of  his 
troublesome  followers,  Podiebrad  thought  the  settlement  would  ben- 
efit his  estate,  so  permission  was  given  them  to  locate  in  the  little 
village  of  Kunwald,  near  the  castle  of  Lititz,  and  Rokycana  saw 
them  leave  the  section  around  Prague  with  great  joy,  and  even  gave 
help  in  their  removal. 

For  four  years  they  enjoyed  a  home  life, — built  cottages,  culti- 
vated their  fields,  opened  workshops,  and  lived  in  peace.  In  Mi- 
chael Bradacius,  Priest  of  Senftenberg,  they  found  a  friend  willing 
to  serve  them  as  minister  or  priest,  and  he  and  Gregory  were  put 
at  the  head  of  affairs,  and  certain  principles  were  drawn  up  to  regu- 
late their  doctrine  and  practice.  They  did  not  yet  think  of  estab- 
lishing a  new  Church,  but  only  meant  to  have  an  association  which 
should  help  them  to  live  true  Christian  lives. 

Their  society,  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  or  "Unity  of  Brethren," 
\vas  organized  in  1457,  tradition  says  on  March  1st,  and  in  the  same 
or  the  following  year  twenty-eight  Elders  were  appointed  as  spiritual 
guides  of  the  people.  Rokycana  looked  upon  them  with  favor, 
and  around  them  gathered  rich  and  poor  from  all  parts  of  Bohemia, 
from  the  mountains,  from  Moravia,  from  the  Waldensian  settle- 
ments ;  there  were  priests  from  the  Roman  and  Utraquist  Churches, 
noblemen,  students,  tradesmen,  and  artisans  of  every  type  and  rank. 
Naturally,  in  so  large  a  company  there  were  differing  opinions  on 
cert;* in  points,  notably  the  Lord's  Supper,  but  a  Synod  was  called 
which  adopted  practically  the  view  taught  by  Peter  of  Chelcic,  which 
is  still  accepted  by  the  members  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  They  also 
resolved  to  regulate  their  Christian  life  by  the  Biblical  standard. 
Bradacius  also  began  to  simplify  public  worship,  and  so  the  first 
step  was  taken  toward  a  Protestant  ritual. 

Meanwhile  George  Podiebrad  had  become  King  of  Bohemia, 
and  had  begun  to  hope  that  he  might  also  reach  the  position  of 
Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  Just  when  he  most  wished 
to  conciliate  the  Pope  complaints  were  made  against  the  Brethren 
at  Kunwald,  on  the  ground  that  they  had  changed  the  ceremonies 
usual  at  the  Lord's  Supper,  etc.,  and  he  indignantly  ordered  that 
all  his  subjects  must  join  the  Roman  Catholic  or  the  Utraquist 
Church  or  leave  the  country,  and  that  "heresy"  must  be  driven 
out  from  the  University  of  Prague  and  elsewhere. 


22 

About  this  time  Gregory  went  to  Prague  to  visit  Brethren 
there.  The  King  ordered  their  arrest,  but  a  friendly  magistrate 
gave  them  warning  of  what  was  coming  that  they  might  escape. 
Some  went,  but  several  boastful  students  declined  to  flee,  and  Greg- 
ory thought  it  his  duty  to  stay  with  them.  Soon  the  magistrate 
appeared,  with  the  salutation  :  "All  who  wish  to  live  in  Christ  Jesus 
must  suffer  persecution,"  and  led  them  to  prison.  The  students, 
after  tasting  one  torture  on  the  rack,  feared  a  second,  and  recanted, 
but  Gregory  remained  stedfast,  and  was  wrenched  so  terribly  that 
he  fell  as  dead  from  the  rack.  But  God  was  with  him,  and  gave 
him  a  beautiful  dream  or  vision,  in  which  he  beheld  three  faces,  of 
which  we  will  hear  later. 

Gregory's  release  was  secured  through  Rokycana,  and  the 
King's  edict  created  such  a  stir  among  the  Bohemians  that  he  re- 
voked it,  but  issued  a  new  one  directed  especially  against  the 
Brethren,  and  ordering  that  any  priests  who  conducted  Communion 
after  their  fashion  should  immediately  be  put  to  death  without  trial. 
Gregory  was  again  put  into  prison,  deep  down  in  a  dungeon,  starv- 
ing, cold,  old,  and  without  any  bodily  comforts.  Bradacius  was 
cast  into  a  dungeon  in  the  Castle  of  Lititz,  and  many  others  were 
cruelly  tortured  or  oppressed.  A  few  denied  their  faith,  but  most 
-of  them  were  inspired  with  courage  and  determination.  The  happy 
homes  and  little  churches  for  Christian  worship  were  broken  up, 
and  the  Brethren  fled  to  the  woods  and  mountains  to  live  the  lives 
of  the  hunted  deer.  They  cooked  their  meals  by  night,  and  while 
the  enemy  slept  they  read  their  Bibles  around  their  watch  fires,  with 
the  stately  pines,  the  kindly  moon,  and  the  quiet  stars  keeping- 
vigils  with  them  and  telling  no  tales.  From  this  we  may,  perhaps, 
in  a  small  measure,  catch  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  Jesus  Christ  : 
"  Foxes  have  holes  and  birds  of  the  air  have  nests,  but  the  Son  of 
Man  hath  not  where  to  lay  His  head,"  and  "the  servant  is  not 
greater  than  his  Master."  "Pit-men"  they  were  often  called  in 
derision,  yet  daily  they  increased  in  numbers,  and  as  their  fires 
shone  out  in  the  dark  forest,  so  their  pure  lives  shone  out  among 
these  darkened  people. 

Attracted  by  the  stedfastness  they  had  shown,  there  came  both 
priests  and  laymen  asking  to  be  admitted  to  their  communion, 
among  the  latter  noblemen,  who  invited  the  Brethren  to  settle  on 
their  estates.  Gradually  the  persecution  died  out,  and  the  impris- 
oned members  were  released,  but  the  conviction  spread  that  a  more 
complete  organization  must  be  given  to  the  Church,  and  that  it 
must  be  more  absolutely  grounded,  in  doctrine  and  practice,  on  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  A  synod  was  called  at  Reichenau,  in  1464,  which 
drew  up  a  series  of  statutes,  — the  oldest  document  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  now  extant. 

In  1467,  just  ten  years  after  the  beginning  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum 


23 

by  the  Kunwald  assembly,  the  Brethren  met  in  a  tanner's  cottage 
at  Lhota.  Friendly  priests  of  the  Utraquist  Church  had  advised 
them  to  establish  their  own  ministry,  and  they  felt  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  count  on  a  sufficient  number  of  priests  who  might 
leave  the  Utraquist  Church  to  join  them,  so  they  met  at  Lhota  with 
these  questions  burning  in  their  hearts  :  "Is  it  God's  will  that  we 
separate  entirely  from  the  Papacy  and  hence  from  its  priesthood  ? 
Is  it  God's  will  that  we  shall  institute,  according  to  the  model  of  the 
primitive  Church,  a  ministerial  order  of  our  own  ?"  With  earnest 
prayer  the  lot  was  cast,  and  both  questions  were  decided  affirma- 
tively. The  Synod  therefore  took  the  decisive  step.  About  sixty 
delegate^  were  present,  with  Gregory  the  Patriarch  in  their  midst. 
After  earnest  prayer,  nine  men  were  elected  by  ballot  from  among 
this  number, — three  of  these  nine  were  to  be  chosen  by  lot  for  pas- 
tors of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  if  the  Lord  so  willed.  There  were  only 
nine  men,  but  there  were  twelve  slips,  nine  blank,  three  with  the 
Bohemian  word  "jest"  (meaning  "is")  thereon.  These  twelve 
slips  were  put  into  a  vase,  — then  came  the  solemn  moment.  Earnest 
prayer  was  offered,  and  then  a  boy  drew  out  one  slip  and  another 
until  the  nine  men  each  stood  with  a  slip.  Oh,  what  would  it  say? 
Would  there  be  nine  blanks,  or  would  they  be  accepted?  Yes, 
three  were  accepted  ;  Matthias,  Thomas,  and  Elias,  each  held  a 
slip  with  "jest"  upon  it,  and  God  had  again  assured  them  of  ac- 
ceptance as  a  Church.  Their  hearts  were  filled  with  thankfulness 
beyond  expression  ;  the  chains  of  Rome  forever  snapped.  The 
three  men  that  held  the  slips  with  "jest"  on  them  Gregory  imme- 
diately recognized  as  bearing  the  faces  he  had  seen  in  his  wonderful 
vision  while  on  the  rack. 

The  Synod  then  took  up  the  subject  of  their  ordination,  as  a 
result  of  which  two  separate  and  distinct  steps  were  taken.  First, 
the  three  candidates  were  ordained  by  an  aged  Waldensian  priest 
among  them,  because  "the  New  Testament  makes  no  distinction 
between  bishops  and  priests  ;  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles  priests 
administered  the  rite  of  ordination,  and  the  Brethren  desire  to  follow 
the  example  of  the  Apostolic  Church  in  all  things."  In  the  second 
place  the  episcopacy  was  obtained  for  them.  "  A  distinction,  it  was 
said,  was  made  at  an  early  day,  immediately  after  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  between  bishops  and  priests  ;  to  the  former  was  committed 
the  exclusive  power  to  ordain.  These  considerations  induced  the 
Synod  to  resolve  upon  the  introduction  of  the  episcopal  office, 
through  which  the  congregations  would  be  more  closely  united 
among  themselves  and  better  able  to  meet  inimical  proceedings, 
indignities,  and  evil  speaking  from  without." 

Michael  Bradacius  and  two  other  priests  were  therefore  sent  to 
a  colony  of  Waldenses,  living  in  Moravia,  where  Stephen  and  an- 
other bishop,  whose  name  is  not  known,  consecrated  them  bishops. 


24 

These  Waldenses  claimed  to  be  of  very  ancient  origin,  and  although 
there  is  some  uncertainty  whether  the  episcopate  they  possessed  in 
1467  came  from  the  Roman  or  from  the  Greek  Church,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Stephen  had  a  valid  episcopate,  and  that  he  gave  it 
to  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  and  even  the  bitterest  enemies  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum  never  questioned  it,  nor  attempted  to  attack  the  ordination 
of  their  ministry. 

On  their  return  to  Bohemia,  Bradacius  and  the  other  two 
bishops  re-ordained  Matthias,  Thomas,  and  Elias  ;  and  then,  with 
the  approval  of  the  lot,  Matthias  was  consecrated  bishop,  and  the 
independent  ministry  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  was  fuUy  established. 

When  Rokycana  heard  of  this  he  was  very  angry,  and  imme- 
diately started  another  persecution.  The  Waldenses  were  dispersed  ; 
Bishop  Stephen  was  captured  and  burned  at  the  stake.  The  Breth- 
ren suffered  greatly  ;  many  were  driven  from  their  homes,  racked 
or  imprisoned.  In  Moravia  Jacob  Hulava  was  burned  alive  in  the 
presence  of  his  family.  The  numerous  chapels  which  the  Brethren 
had  built  were  destroyed,  and  they  were  forced  to  meet  secretly  in 
the  forests.  But  the  leaders  remained  firm,  the  more  wealthy  mem- 
bers aided  the  poorer,  and,  in  1471,  the  persecution  ceased,  with 
the  death  of  Rokycana  and  Podiebrad. 

Two  years  later,  Sept.  13th,  1473,  Gregory  the  Patriarch  died, 
leaving  the  Church  which  he  had  helped  to  found  with  an  ever-in- 
creasing membership  and  an  ever-widening  influence. 


THE  UNITAS  FRATRUM  UNDER  LUKE  OF 
PRAGUE,  1473-1520. 

Wit  Patriarch,  who  had  practically 

found  lunch    and    completed    its    organization, 

istory.      Gregory,  with  his  stern 

:'  .      ei    of    Chelcic,  had   ruled  with 

ha ■'    been  mtocrat  without  any  to   dispute 

;oo.n     •  I    more   liberal    policy  began  to 

•  ■  members.      Over  an  area 

its  ollowers  lay  scattered.      It 

red  Church.      Aldermen 

ns,  professors,  lan<  d  knights  represented  it  in 

I   among  1  It.   could   no  longer  keep  aloof 

e,  but  must  take  its    >lace  and  do  its  part  in  the  world. 

rp      :  it  n  *  ded  t  rather  than  remember  the  last 

regory  the    Patriarch:   "Ah,  Matthias,   beware  of  the 


25 

educated  Brethren."  St^ng,  well-equipped,  sagacious  leaders  were 
demanded  by  the  crisis  that  hi  d  arrived  in  its  history. 

To  inaugurate  this  newer  and  broader  policy  of  the  Church  two 
men  were  raised  up  at  this  time.  One,  known  as  Luke  of  Prague, 
and  born  in  1460,  was  a  graduate  of  the  university  of  that  name, 
and  was  a  deeply- read  theological  scholar.  He  realized  the  demands 
of  the  hour  and  had  the  courage  and  faith  to  take  the  tide  at  the 
flood.  Associated  with  him,  and  almost  equally  prominent  in  its 
policy  was  Procop  of  Neuhaws,  also  a  university  graduate  and  a 
representee  of  the  advanced  and  educated  element  in  the  Church. 
These  two  led  the  movement  against  the  bigotry  and  narrowness  of 
sectarianism  which  was  threatening,  and  struck  the  keynote  for  a 
broader  policy.  First  and  foremost  it  was  settled  that  the  writings 
of  Peter  and  Gregory  should  no  longer  be  authoritative  as  teachers 
of  the  Church.  "We  content  ourselves,"  ran  their  declaration, 
' '  with  those  sacred  books  which  have  been  accepted  from  of  old  by 
all  Christians,  and  are  found  in  the  Bible." 

Henceforth  men  of  rank  could  join  the  Church  without  laying 
down  their  rank  ;  oaths  might  be  taken  ;  profits  in  business  might 
be  made,  and  state  offices  might  be  filled.  Thus  the  Church  emerged 
from  its  obscurity  as  a  sect,  and  took  its  proper  place  as  a  herald  of 
the  Reformation. 

Its  position  in  doctrine  was  definitely  stated  by  its  Council  of 
Elders  in  1495,  when  in  answer  to  the  question  put  by  Procop  of 
Neuhaws  :  "By  what  is  a  man  justified,"  it  declared  itself  for  the 
great  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  and  thus  took  by  right  the 
position  it  can  justly  claim  for  all  time  of  being  the  first  free  Evan- 
gelical Church  of  Europe. 

For  forty  years  Luke  of  Prague  was  the  great  leader  of  the 
Church.      He  extended  its  useful n  in   tjie 

firm  conviction,  gained  by  wide  ex] 

of  one  other  in  the  mount:  ,. 

tian  Church  on  the  face  of  the 

While  the  policy  of  the  C 
it  might  offer  the  truth  freely  - 

cravings  of  all  seeking  its  fold,  its  pri 
its  members,  and  its  strict  organization   j-  i< 
surrendered.      In  every  detail  of  their  :  in 

in  Christian  service,  in  civil  d 
Mount  as  their  guide.     The  same  stricl  Li 

child  and  the  old  man  ;    the  serf  and  %  it< 

the  bishop.     Their  doctrine  shone  like  a  la  >reth    ;n 

Church  drew  men  to  it  by  their  livess  ti 

pline.      The  influence  of  these  things  extended  nuclei    L  il 
direction.      He  established  the  ministry  on  a  firmei  In 

larged  the  number  of  bishops,  of  whom   I 


26 

Procop  of  Neuhavvs  the  head  of  a  Council  of  Elders  with  extended 
powers.  The  Church  services  were  beautified,  and  the  ritual  made 
more  tasteful.  He  gave  an  impulse  to  sacred  music  and  singing, 
and  encouraged  education  and  learning  in  every  way.  He  made 
use  of  the  new  art  of  printing,  publishing  a  "Catechism  for  Chil- 
dren," the  first  Brethren's  Hymn  Book,  "Confessions  of  Faith," 
(sending  the  latter  to  the  King,)  and  numerous  pamphlets,  treat- 
ises, and  portions  of  the  Bible.  Between  1505  and  1510  only  sixty 
printed  works  appeared  in  Bohemia,  but  of  these  fifty  were  issued 
by  the  Brethren's  Church. 

With  such  a  leader,  with  a  growing  and  enthusiastic  following, 
making  themselves  deeply  felt  upon  the  spiritual  and  intellectual 
heart  of  the  country, and  jealously  watched  by  their  powerful  enemies, 
the  Utraquists  and  the  Roman  Catholics,  the  Brethren  could  not 
escape  opposition  and  ultimate  persecution.  Vile  and  blasphemous 
stories  were  invented  to  arouse  the  superstition  and  hatred  of  the 
people,  accusing  them  of  secret  crimes,  sacrilege,  poisoning  and 
witchcraft,  not  to  mention  other  iniquities.  These  were  printed  and 
scattered  broadcast  by  their  enemies.  But,  in  1500,  a  more  powerful 
enemy  took  up  arms  against  them.  Pope  Alexander  VI.  sent  an 
agent  to  Bohemia  to  preach  against  the  Brethren,  and  the  King  was 
stirred  up  by  the  wicked  rumor  that  another  Ziska  would  arise  in 
the  land  from  among  this  hated*  people,  and  light  again  the  flames 
of  a  religious  war.  In  1507  he  issued  the  Edict  of  St.  James,  for- 
bidding their  meetings,  requiring  their  tracts  and  books  to  be  burnt, 
and  ordering  all  who  refused  to  join  either  the  Utraquists  or  the 
Roman  Catholics  to  be  immediately  expelled  from  the  country. 

Thus  began  a  bitter  and  merciless  persecution,  and  from  1510 
to  1516  was  a  period  full  of  trial  and  danger,  when  the  enemies  of 
the  Church  seemed  on  every  side  triumphant.  It  was  only  bright- 
ened by  the  light  of  martyrdom  and  by  the  contrast  between  the 
faith  and  courage  of  its  members  over  against  the  apparent  darkness 
and  hopelessness  of  the  struggle. 

Luke  of  Prague  showed  himself  during  these  dark  years  a  true 
and  heroic  man  of  God  indeed.  He  hurried  in  secret  from  settle- 
ment to  settlement,  he  held  services  in  woods  and  gorges,  he 
cheered  the  parishes  by  pastoral  letters,  he  comforted  the  down- 
hearted, and  spared  no  effort  to  reach  and  influence  the  mind  of  the 
King.  At  one  time  he  was  imprisoned  by  a  robber  knight,  loaded 
with  chains,  and  threatened  with  torture  and  the  stake.  Then  came 
a  time  of  rest,  which  seemed  sent  by  the  special  act  of  God.  The 
Brethren's  enemies  were  mysteriously  struck  down  as  if  by  divine 
retribution.  One  fell  dead  in  his  chair  ;  another  was  upset  in  his 
sleigh, and  impaled  on  his  own  hunting  knife;  another  was  found  dead 
in  his  cellar,  so  that  it  became  a  common  saying  among  the  people: 
"  Let  him  who  is  tired  of  life  persecute  the  Brethren,  for  he  is  sure 


27 

not  to  live  out  the  year."  To  brighten  this  period  the  more  came 
news  of  another  ally  arisen  across  the  Giant  Mountains.  Martin 
Luther  had  come  and  nailed  his  95  theses  against  the  church  door 
of  Wittenberg.  They  hailed  him  as  a  champion  sent  of  God,  and 
at  the  very  first  opportunity  held  out  the  hand  of  fellowship,  and 
sent  a  deputation  to  visit  him  ;  seeking  his  advice  and  opening  their 
hearts  to  his  message  of  encouragement. 

As  these  bright  days  dawned,  the  life  of  Luke  of  Prague  drew 
to  its  close.  His  period  of  usefulness  had  been  a  long  one,  he  could 
look  upon  a  work  well  done,  and  though  he  left  a  Church  much 
weakened  by  persecution,  it  had  been  purified  and  strengthened 
by  trial,  and  was  well  fitted  for  the  coming  and  wider  period  of  its 
usefulness.  He  relinquished  his  work  with  reluctance,  but  still  in 
faith  that  God  would  raise  up  another  head  to  guide  his  beloved 
Church  in  safety  through  the  storms  he  saw  before  it.  Now,  under 
a  man  fitted  for  the  stress  of  those  strenuous  times,  and  not  alone  in 
its  championship  of  the  pure  gospel,  the  Church  was  to  enter  upon 
a  broad  and  useful  career. 


JOHN  AUGUSTA  AND  HIS  TIMES,  1528— 1572. 

Shortly  before  the  death  of  Luke  of  Prague,  and  while  the 
Brethren's  Church  was  still  feebly  struggling  in  the  throes  of  perse- 
cution, there  began  to  dawn  for  Protestantism  in  Bohemia  a  wider 
period  of  usefulness  through  the  courage  and  sympathy  extended  to 
it  by  the  Reformation  movement  in  Germany.  Martin  Luther  had 
become  the  standard  bearer  of  religious  freedom  in  a  large  field,  and 
his  sturdy  championship  of  a  pure  faith  not  only  thrilled  the  Breth- 
ren with  a  kindred  spirit,  but  led  them  to  hold  out  to  him  as  soon 
as  possible  the  hand  of  fellowship.  Two  brethren  had  been  sent  as 
a  deputation  to  visit  him  ;  and  that  union  of  effort  and  of  purpose 
might  be  more  completely  realized  they  presented  him  with  a  copy 
of  their  Confession  of  Faith,  and  their  Catechism,  seeking  his  advice 
on  points  of  doctrine  and  conduct,  and  opening  their  hearts  gladly 
to  all  that  the  great  Reformer  had  to  say.  While  the  intercourse 
between  the  leaders  of  these  two  revolts  against  Romish  tyranny 
had  not  been  altogether  free  from  misunderstanding,  it  had  been  the 
means  of  a  closer  acquaintance,  and  there  was  infused  thereby  into 
the  ranks  of  the  Unity  a  greater  enthusiasm  and  desire  to  adapt 
itself  more  closely  in  methods  and  training  to  the  new  learning  that 
the  Reformation  was  spreading  over  Germany. 

Luke  of  Prague,  like  his  predecessor,  Gregory,  had  passed  away 


28 

when  his  work  was  done.  He' had  achieved  the  task  set  before  him> 
nobly  and  well,  and  was  the  man  of  God  for  his  day.  Now,  as  a 
wider  path  lay  before  the  Brethren,  so  God  again  raised  up  for  this, 
work  a  man  equipped  and  thrilled  with  the  power  for  his  task. 
Gradually,  through  influences  born  of  persecution  and  the  newer 
teachings  of  the  day,  there  had  grown  up  in  the  Church  a  ministry 
of  young  men,  many  of  them  graduates  of  the  great  Wittenberg 
University,  and  all  gifted  with  a  keen  insight  into  the  increasing- 
needs  of  the  Church,  and  full  of  an  unquenchable  eagerness  to  share 
in  the  great  victory  of  Protestantism  that  seemed  so  nearly  within, 
reach.  Of  the  older  leaders  of  the  Church  at  this  time,  one  of  the 
most  open  minded  was  John  Horn,  the  senior  bishop  of  the  Execu- 
tive Council.  For  eighteen  years  he  had  taken  part  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Church,  ruling  faithfully  and  well,  but  while  realizing 
the  importance  of  the  events  of  the  Reformation,  he  made  no  at- 
tempt to  change  the  exclusive  policy  which  prevailed  during  the 
time  of  Luke.  He  was  wise  enough,  however,  to  see  and  value  the 
temper  and  sincerity  of  the  younger  party  in  the  Church,  and  was, 
friendly  to  it.  In  1532,  at  the  Synod  held  at  Brandeis  on  the  Adleiy 
Bishop  Skoda  resigned  the  presidency  in  favor  of  John  Horn,  and* 
announced  that  new  elections  to  fill  the  vacancies  in  the  Execu- 
tive Council  would  take  place.  Just  as  the  elections  were  about  to 
begin,  a  young  priest,  John  Augusta  by  name,  rose  and  addressed 
the  Synod.  He  said  he  spoke  in  the  name  of  a  number  of  his. 
fellow  priests  ;  that  he  and  they  were  unanimously  of  the  opinion 
that  the  Executive  Council  had  become  torpid  and  was  an  inactive 
body  ;  that  it  did  not  show  itself  equal  to  the  requirements  of  the 
age,  and  that  there  must  be  infused  into  it  a  newer  and  more  vigor- 
ous element.  With  an  imperturl  elf -possession,  which  struck 
the  older  members  of  I  proposed  himself  and 
four  of  his  friends  as  Candida  He  and  they  were 
elected.  But  a  still  greater  Led  the  bold  «  >eaker.  lie 
and  two  of  his  associa  <  :hosen 
bishops,  and  imm  . 
pathy  with  the  position' of  his 
now  assumed  a  far  more  conspi 

ward  its  history  constitutes  an  i  irt  of  Bo' 

in  general. 

John  Augusta  was  the  son  of  a  1  b  •    in 

the  year  1500.     Originally  a  m<  h,  he 

became  dissatisfied,  and,  in  cl  soon 

began  to  prepare  for  the  mini:  ras  ordained 

and  in  1531  advanced  to  the  pri  ista  must  be  c 

among  the  men  born  to  rule.  His  <  nergy  was  boundless,  his  will 
indomitable.  His  persistence,  however,  often  degenerated  into  ob- 
stinacy, and  his  ambition  too  often 'kept  his  steps  from  that  humility 


29 

•worthy  a  follower  of  the  Divine  Master.  Yet  he  was  a  great  man, 
and  his  work  was  illustrious.  Endowed  with  natural  gifts  of  an  ex- 
traordinary character,  he  became  Bohemia's  most  distinguished 
.preacher,  earned  the  title  of  the  "Bohemian  Luther,"  stood  high 
among  many  eminent  nobles  as  a  trusted  counsellor  and  friend,  and 
labored  for  the  Unity  with  burning  zeal  and  fiery  enthusiasm.  His 
•career  was  a  drama,  setting  forth  heroic  incidents,  tragic  scenes, 
and  a  lamentable  fall.  No  other  bishop  of  the  Brethren  was  like 
him  in  his  glory  and  in  his  shame. 

The  first  step  of  the  newly  organized  Council  was  to  draw  closer 
the  relations  of  the  Unity  with  the  German  Reformer,  and  to  this 
end  a  new  Confession  of  Faith  was  compiled,  in  the  same  year  as  the 
Synod  by  Horn  and  Augusta,  and  presented  to  Luther.  It  was  a 
thoroughly  Protestant  Confession,  and  while  its  absolute  correctness 
in  point  of  doctrine  gained  the  approval  of  Luther  and  his  col- 
leagues, they  accorded  unqualified  admin  ation  to  the  discipline  of  the 
-Brethren.  "Yon  alone,"  said  Martin  Bucer,  "combine  a  wholesome 
discipline  with  a  pure  faith." 

But  while  Augusta  thus  strengthened  the  influence  of  the 
Church  he  was  not  blind  to  the  political  issues  that  threatened  it 
through  the  growing  jealousy  and  power  of  its  enemies.  Lewis  of 
Bohemia  had  fallen  in  1526,  in  battle  with  the  Turks,  and  a  new 
king  reigned  in  Prague.  He  was  of  the  famous  Hapsburg  family, 
(from  time  immemorial  Catholic,)  Ferdinand  the  First,  King  of 
Hungary,  Archduke  of  Austria,  King  of  the  Romans,  and  brother 
of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.  By  his  election  the  Bohemian  people 
became  entangled  in  the  meshes  of  European  politics,  and  the  safety 
of  their  isolation  was  gone.  Already  in  1535,  Ferdinand  began  to 
show  an  alarming  hostility.  He  summoned  members  of  the  Unity 
to  Prague  for  trial,  and  cast  into  prison  John  the  Hermit,  a  priest 
of  extraordinary  influence  and  piety,  and  the  two  young  Barons 
von  Janowic,  on  whose  domains  he  labored,  and  who  refused  to  sur- 
render him.  Although  this  persecution  was  as  yet  a  little  flame  it 
might  at  any  moment  burst  into  a  consuming,  fire,  and  John  Augusta 
determined  to  check  it  as  far  as  he  was  able.  In  conjunction  with 
his  fellow  bishops  and  other  members  of  the  Council  it  was  deter- 
mined to  present  to  the  King  a  new  Confession  of  Faith.  It  was 
drawn  up  by  Horn  and  Augusta,  and  set  forth  the  origin  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum,  and  the  growth  of  its  faith  as  shown  in  its  various 
Confessions.  It  contained  a  manly  preface  by  the  nobles  connected 
with  the  Unity,  and  twenty  doctrinal  articles,  and  was  signed  by 
twelve  barons  and  thirty-three  knights.  Baron  Conrad  Krajek,  the 
richest  and  most  influential  member  of  the  Unity,  was  selected  as 
the  most  suitable  person  to  secure  an  audience  with  the  King,  and, 
•on  the  11th  of  November,  1535,  he  was  granted  an  interview.  His 
reception  was  at  first  not  propitious,  but  three  days  later  the  depu- 


30 

tation  formally  presented  the  Confession,  and  Ferdinand  received 
them  with  royal  graciousness,  and  promised  to  leave  the  Brethren 
in  peace  provided  they  proved  themselves  true  and  faithful  subjects. 

For  a  while  there  was  a  lull  in  the  storm.  Peace  and  plenty 
reigned  in  the  land,  and  the  Brethren  extended  the  borders  of  the 
Church  on  every  side.  Scattered  throughout  the  country  were  400 
places  of  worship,  with  200,000  members  ;  and  famous  schools, 
patronized  by  the  leading  nobility  of  the  kingdom,  perpetuated  the 
teachings  and  enhanced  the  influence  of  the  Unity.  The  greatest 
nobles  of  Bohemia  belonged  to  the  Church,  while  the  people  loved 
it,  and  it  looked  as  if  it  might  some  day  become  the  national 
Church  of  Bohemia  Yet  bitter  hatred  was  being  nursed  in  the  ranks 
of  the  Utraquists,  and  time  and  again  charges  were  being  brought 
against  the  Brethren.  Twice  in  the  Diet,  the  King  was  induced  to 
order  the  arrest  of  John  Augusta,  but  the  danger  passed,  and  the 
days  of  the  Unity  were  bright  for  a  time  longer.  Then  fell  the 
darkness  and  terror  of  a  great  tempest. 

The  Smalcald  League  of  Protestant  German  princes,  headed 
by  John,  Elector  of  Saxony,  was  arrayed  against  the  Emperor 
Charles  V.,  and  Ferdinand,  King  of  Bohemia,  called  together  his 
loyal  subjects  to  take  up  arms  and  fight  with  him  for  his  brother 
and  his  cause.  Now  the  Protestant  nobles  of  Bohemia  were  in  a 
quandary,  and  must  choose  between  loyalty  to  their  sovereign  or 
their  faith.  Their  choice  was  made  at  a  great  meeting  held  at  the 
house  of  Baron  Kotska,  a  member  of  the  Unity,  and  a  Bohemian 
League,  composed  largely  of  nobles  from  the  Utraquist  and  Breth- 
ren's Churches,  was  formed,  which  made  an  effort  to  send  troops  in 
support  of  the  Elector  of  Saxony.  Before  they  could  join  the  Prot- 
estant forces  the  battle  of  Muehlberg  was  fought,  the  Emperor  was 
triumphant,  and  King  Ferdinand  returned  to  Prague  to  wreak  ven- 
geance on  his  enemies.  The  grand  opportunity  for  which  he  was 
waiting  had  come,  and  John  Augusta  and  the  Brethren's  Church, 
against  whom  his  hatred  was  most  directed,  were  to  feel  the  full 
weight  of  a  bigoted  tyrant's  wrath. 

There  was  no  dallying  in  the  King's  plans.  On  the  22d  of 
August,  1547,  four  nobles,  one  of  them  a  member  of  the  Brethren's 
Church,  were  executed.  Others  were  robbed  or  banished  to  certain 
towns  or  castles  for  life.  Churches  were  closed  and  worship  forbid- 
den ;  ministers  and  people  fled  into  the  mountains  and  woods  ;  and 
all  the  cities  that  had  been  the  chief  seats  of  the  Brethren  fell  into 
the  relentless  hands  of  the  King.  As  a  final  climax  to  his  vengeance 
a  royal  mandate  was  issued  to  the  effect  that  the  Brethren  must 
either  join  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  or  leave  the  country  forever 
within  six  weeks. 

One  of  the  most  fascinating  chapters  in  the  history  of  the  LInity 
followed  this  edict.     To  the  surprise  of  their  enemies  the  Brethren 


31 

chose  the  alternative  of  banishment  rather  than  apostasy.  By  hun- 
dreds and  by  thousands,  along  all  the  main  roads  leading  out  of  the 
country  into  Poland,  in  caravans,  with  wagons  for  the  women  and 
children  and  weaker  ones,  they  marched  to  their  exile  with  songs, 
as  in  a  triumphal  procession.  Everywhere  the  people  welcomed 
them  and  entertained  them,  mayors  and  town  councils  turning  out 
in  their  honor,  and  guards  of  foot  soldiers  and  horsemen  escorting 
them  on  the  way.  But  many  a  weary  day  passed  before  they  found 
rest  for  their  feet.  Turned  from  Great  Poland  they  sought  Polish 
Prussia,  and  were  again  ordered  away  ;  only  after  six  months  of 
weary  wandering  did  they  find  a  hearth  and  home  at  Kcenigsberg, 
in  East  Prussia,  among  their  brethren  of  the  Lutheran  Church. 
Ferdinand  knew  not  what  impulse  he  had  set  in  motion.  The  exo- 
dus from  Bohemia,  led  by  men  like  George  Israel,  not  only  estab- 
lished the  Brethren's  Church  in  Prussia,  but  through  the  fiery  zeal 
of  himself  and  others,  in  seven  years,  built  it  up  in  Poland,  with 
Ostrorog  as  its  center,  and  many  noble  families  to  support  it. 
Forty  congregations  were  established,  and  an  influence  was  attained 
that  finally,  at  the  great  Synod  of  Sendomir,  succeeded  in  uniting 
into  one  Confession  all  the  Protestants  of  the  land  of  their  adoption. 
Meanwhile  the  fires  of  persecution  were  flaming  out  more  fiercely 
in  Bohemia,  and  Augusta,  with  his  fellow  bishops  and  members  of 
the  Council  were  compelled  to  seek  concealment.  Bishop  Horn  had 
died,  and  Augusta,  succeeding  him  as  President  of  the  Council, 
spared  not  himself  on  behalf  of  his  Church  and  stricken  people. 
His  energetic  character  expanded  in  proportion  to  the  perils  that 
surrounded  him.  In  the  name  of  the  entire  Church  he  sent  a  letter 
to  the  King,  beseeching  him  to  spare  the  Unity,  which  was  innocent 
and  had  not  conspired  against  him.  The  only  reply  was  the  decla- 
ration of  Ferdinand's  unalterable  determination  to  adhere  to  his 
royal  mandate,  and  his  messenger,  John  George,  was  arrested  at 
Prague,  imprisoned,  narrowly  escaping  the  rack,  and  only  set  at 
liberty  at  last  on  condition  that  he  leave  the  country.  A  second 
royal  edict  appeared  against  the  Brethren,  commanding  the  first  to 
be  strictly  enforced,  and  ordering  the  arrest  and  imprisonment  at 
Prague  of  every  minister  of  the  Unity. 

There  was  none  whom  the  King  more  eagerly  longed  to  get 
within  his  power  than  John  Augusta.  He  had  come  to  regard  him 
almost  as  a  personal  enemy,  because  of  his  fearless  efforts  on.  behalf 
of  his  people,  and  it  was  well  known  that  a  liberal  reward  would  be 
paid  for  his  arrest  and  capture.  This  set  his  emissaries  constantly 
on  the  watch,  and  at  last,  by  craft  that  was  almost  satanic,  they 
succeeded  in  their  purpose.  On  the  plea  that  the  advice  of  a  faith- 
ful minister  was  needed  he  was  lured  into  an  ambush,  and,  with  his 
friend,  Jacob  Bilek,  was  seized  by  three  armed  ruffians,  and  borne 
off  in  triumph.    Both  were  immediately  taken  to  Prague,  and  lodged 


32 

in  prison,  Augusta  being  confined  in  the  famous  White  Tower.  He 
was  placed  in  a  dungeon,  and  fetters  were  fastened  to  his  hands  and 
to  his  feet.  He  was  urged  to  betray  the  hiding-place  of  his  breth- 
ren and  to  confess  the  treasonable  designs  of  which  he  and  his  col- 
leagues had  been  suspected.  When  he  refused  tortures  were  inflicted 
such  as  only  the  bigotry  of  a  cruel  tyrant  and  his  creatures  could 
devise.  Like  a  hero  he  refused  to  betray  his  trust  or  prove  un- 
faithful to  his  people.  When  his  agonies  were  at  their  height  he 
was  asked  what  his  brethren  were  doing  :  "  They  are  seeking  refuge 
with  one  accord  in  impassioned  prayer  to  God  !"  was  his  illustrious 
answer.  At  last,  the  King,  angered  by  the  obduracy  of  his  victim, 
himself  recommended  new  methods  of  torture,  but  before  his  mes- 
senger arrived  Augusta  and  his  friend,  Bilek,  who  had  been  even 
more  cruelly  treated,  found  a  new  place  of  imprisonment  in  the  old 
and  isolated  castle  of  Purglitz. 

Here,  for  16  years,  with  only  a  short  interval  again  in  the  White 
Tower,  Augusta  languished  in  imprisonment.  At  times  it  was  light- 
ened in  its  rigor,  and  he  was  visited  secretly  by  friends,  and  was 
able  to  open  up  a  regular  correspondence  with  the  rest  of  the  Breth- 
ren in  Bohemia,  which  was  maintained  steadily  throughout  the  whole 
imprisonment.  From  the  four  walls  of  his  gloomy  dungeon  he  still 
continued  to  wield  the  sceptre  of  his  power.  He  wrote  sermons  and 
homilies  for  his  persecuted  people  ;  he  gave  advice  in  times  of  diffi- 
culty and  danger  ;  and  composed  many  hymns. 

But  persecution,  though  long  and  leaving  a  track  of  terror  and 
hardships,  at  last  slackened,  and  the  Brethren's  Church  in  Bohemia 
began  to  recover  from  the  blow.  It  is  true  many  of  its  members 
had  been  compelled  to  leave  their  native  land,  but  many,  too,  had 
remained,  bending  but  unyielding  till  the  great  storm  should  blow 
over. 

The  change  came  through  political  issues.  In  1556,  Ferdinand, 
through  the  resignation  of  his  brother,  Chailes  V.,  became  Emperor, 
and  was  succeeded  as  King  of  Bohemia  by  his  son,  Maximilian,  a 
man  well  inclined  to  the  Protestant  cause.  The  Brethren  saw  their 
opportunity,  and  sought  the  favor  of  the  new  monarch.  Times  had 
changed,  their  enemies  were  weakened,  or  had  tired  of  persecution 
and  hatred  that  had  failed  in  its  object,  and  a  period  of  rest  and 
growth  began.  They  presented  a  copv  of  their  hymn  book  to  the 
King  ;  rebuilt  their  chapel  at  Jungbunzlau,  other  congregations  fol- 
lowing their  example,  and  by  1557,  — a  hundred  years  after  the 
settlement  of  Kunwald, —  the  Church  of  the  Brethren  was  firmly 
established  and  divided  into  three  provinces,  Bohemia,  Moravia  and 
Poland. 

The  bright  light  of  a  new  growth  and  strength  shone  upon  the 
figure  of  the  once  great  leader  of  the  Church,  but  he  was  no  longer 
honored  with  the  trust  and  confidence  that  had  so  long  been  unre- 


33 

servedly  given  him.  John  Augusta  in  his  prison  failed  to  realize 
that  even  in  persecution  men  grow  and  develop.  Outside  the  four 
walls  of  his  dungeon  times  were  rapidly  changing  and  men  needed 
leaders  who  could  study  events  and  act  quickly.  As  president  of 
the  Executive  Council  he  had  long  been  the  autocrat,  and  his  cour- 
age and  heroism  had  fixed  firmly  his  hold  upon  the  Church's  loyalty 
and  devotion,  but  the  Church  was  often  in  perplexity,  and  needed 
one  in  its  midst  to  whom  the  government  could  be  entrusted.  After 
much  hesitation,  and  repeated  refusals  on  his  part  to  consent  to  an 
election  of  new  bishops,  the  Council,  at  a  period  when  Augusta's 
fate  was  most  doubtful,  determined  at  last  to  take  its  own  course. 
New  bishops  were  elected,  and  the  Council  appointed  from  those 
chosen  John  Czerny,  First  Senior  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  and 
George  Israel  to  the  same  post  in  Poland.  When,  by  chance, 
the  news  reached  Augusta  long  after  the  event  itself,  he  was  filled 
with  rage  and  indignation,  and,  in  repeated  letters,  declared  the 
action  of  the  Council  illegal.  That  body,  though  it  had  not  acted 
in  an  open  and  upright  manner  by  concealing  from  him  the  new 
appointments,  justified  itself  by  an  appeal  to  the  constitution  of  the 
Unity,  and  thenceforth  began  the  eclipse  and  downfall  of  the  great 
leader  of  the  Church.  It  is  sad  to  note  how  disappointed  ambition 
and  wounded  pride  beclouded  his  judgment,  and  led  him  farther  yet 
from  his  brethren.  While  he  may  have  been  thoroughly  honest  in 
his  hope  that  a  National  Church  could  be  erected  by  a  union  of  the 
discordant  Protestant  elements  of  the  country,  his  co-operation  with 
the  Utraq: lists  and  Jesuits  to  secure  his  liberty,  though  in  further- 
ance of  his  great  scheme,  was  a  sacrifice  of  principle,  and  justly  for- 
feited the  confidence  of  the  leaders  of  the  Unity.  When  finally 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Utraquist  Church,  and  declared  his 
belief  that  salvation  could  not  be  found  outside  that  body,  the  Coun- 
cil took  action,  excluding  him  from  the  Unitas  Fratrum  and  depriv- 
ing him  of  all  ministerial  and  episcopal  functions. 

At  last,  in  1564,  his  release  from  prison  came.  It  was  a  pathetic, 
broken  figure  that  issued  from  his  cell,  speaking  of  a  heroism  and 
endurance  for  conscience'  sake  hardly  ever  equalled,  but  the  glory 
of  his  closing  years  was  obscured  by  the  cloud  that  never  completely 
lifted.  He  was  reconciled  again  to  his  brethren,  and  confirmed  their 
acts,  but  never  could  regain  the  confidence  of  former  days.  He  was 
a  great  and  good  man,  though  an  erring  one.  In  all  the  subsequent 
history  of  the  Church,  his  equal  cannot  be  found.  We  mourn  over 
his  faults,  we  bring  a  tribute  to  the  greatness  of  his  works,  to  his 
heroism  as  a  confessor,  and  to  the  zeal,  endurance  and  high  aims  he 
infused  into  the  Unity. 


34 
PROSPERITY  AND  DEFEAT,  1572—1621. 

With  John  Angusta  the  last  great  bishop  of  the  Ancient  Uni- 
tas  Fratrum  passed  away.  Good  men  and  true  followed  him  in  the 
episcopal  office,  but  none  who  were  such  leaders  as  he  had  been. 
Still  the  Unity  continued  to  grow  and  increase  in  influence  in  spite 
of  several  outbreaks  of  persecution,  instigated  by  the  Jesuits.  The 
Jesuits  were  a  Roman  Catholic  Order,  established  in  1534,  consist- 
ing of  both  priests  and  laymen.  From  the  first  they  showed  a 
burning  zeal  in  promoting  the  growth  of  the  Catholic  Church 
through  any  and  all  means  ;  by  1600  they  had  secured  a  firm  foot- 
hold in  Bohemia,  and  from  then  on  they  were  the  tireless  enemies 
of  all  Protestants,  and  especially  of  the  Brethren. 

But  for  a  time  the  Protestant  cause  was  too  strong  for  them. 
Only  a  few  Utraquists  were  left,  while  many  of  the  people  had 
become  Lutherans,  and  still  larger  numbers  belonged  to  the  Unitas 
Fratrum,  which  labored  with  unabated  vigor.  Synods  were  held, 
young  men  were  educated  for  the  ministry,  and  the  greatest  literary 
work  of  the  Unity  was  given  to  the  world.  This  was  the  Kralitz 
Bible,  so  called  because  it  was  printed  at  Kralitz.  It  was  the  first 
translation  of  the  entire  Bible  from  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek 
into  the  Bohemian  language,  and  a  commission  of  eight  trained 
men  spent  fourteen  years  in  its  preparation.  It  was  in  six  volumes, 
the  first  being  printed  in  1579,  the  last  in  1593.  Even  a  Jesuit, 
writing  in  1668,  said  of  it  that  •'  that  its  style  deserved  to  be  praised 
above  all  measure,"  and  it  has  furnished,  word  for  word,  the  text 
of  the  Bohemian  Bible  published  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society  of  to-day. 

Shortly  after  the  printing  of  the  Kralitz  Bible  two  new  leaders 
came  to  the  front  in  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  They  were  not  bishops, 
but  noblemen,  for  during  the  last  few  years  the  nobles  in  the  Unity 
had  been  steadily  gaining  in  influence.  It  was  they  who  gave  the 
Brethren  protection  against  persecution,  wrho  acted  as  mediators 
between  the  Unity  and  the  State,  who  supplied  land  for  the  churches, 
and  money  for  the  support  of  the  ministry.  They  were  enthusiastic, 
God-fearing  men,  who  loved  the  Unity  and  gave  themselves  freely 
in  its  behalf,  so  it  was  natural  that  leadership  should  now  fall  into 
their  hands.  Chief  among  them  were  Wenzel  von  Budowa  of  Bo- 
hemia, and  Charles  von  Zerotin  of  Moravia,  and  under  them  the 
Unitas  Fratrum  entered  a  new  period  of  its  history,  glorious, 
though  brief.  The  ministers  of  the  Unity  were  the  most  highly 
educated  in  the  country,  and  in  every  village  there  was  a  parish 
school,  so  that  the  Brethren  had  the  honor  of  making  the  Bohe- 
mians the  best  educated  people  of  their  time.  Along  with  culture 
went  comfort  and  plenty  hand  in  hand,  and  great  men  often  came 
from  afar  to  see  the  famed  settlements  of  the  Brethren.      In  sacred 


35 

music  the  Unitas  Fratrum  also  took  the  lead.  It  was  the  first  Prot- 
estant Church  to  issue  a  Hymn-book,  and  eight  editions  had  now 
been  published.  The  words  of  the  hymns  breathed  devotion  and 
brotherly  love,  the  melodies  were  sweeping  and  strong.  They  were 
sung  in  cottage  and  in  castle,  and  in  an  age  when  congregational 
singing' was  little  known,  the  Brethren,  Sunday  by  Sunday,  praised 
God  with  united  voices. 

And  yet,  the  Unitas  Fratrum  was  still  under  the  ban  of  the  law, 
old  edicts  against  them  were  still  unrepealed,  and  there  was  a  con- 
stant danger  that  something  might  give  the  King  and  the  Jesuits 
a  chance  to  begin  another  persecution.  Indeed,  an  attempt  was 
made  in  1602,  though  it  was  unsuccessful,  and  only  brought  the 
Unitas  Fratrum  and  the  Lutheran  Church  more  closely  together. 

In  1608  the  great  opportunity  of  the  Protestants  came,  and 
their  nobles  were  quick  to  take  advantage  of  it.  Rudolph  was  a 
very  weak  king,  and  his  people  and  his  own  relatives  turned  against 
him.  Hungary,  Austria  and  Moravia  revolted,  and,  with  an  army 
advancing  against  Prague,  Rudolph  called  upon  the  Bohemians  to 
defend  him.  Then  the  Protestant  nobles,  led  by  Budowa,  took  a 
decided  stand,  and  refused  their  help  unless  he  would  sign  a  charter 
giving  full  religious  liberty  to  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  and  revoking 
all  edicts  against  the  Protestants.  Rudolph  twisted  and  squirmed, 
made  promises  and  broke  them,  as  the  nobles  and  the  Jesuits  by 
turns  pressed  on  him,  but  finally  the  nobles  conquered,  and,  on  the 
9th  of  July,  the  King  signed  the  Bohemian  Charter,  which  granted 
all  that  the  nobles  had  asked. 

When  this  was  announced  in  Prague  the  people  could  hardly 
contain  themselves  for  joy,  and  throughout  all  Bohemia  the  Charter 
was  hailed  as  the  final  cure  for  all  religious  ills.  There  was  a 
"  Board  of  Twenty-four  Defenders,"  whose  duty  it  was  to  see  that 
the  terms  of  the  Charter  were  observed.  The  Word  of  God  was 
preached  in  500  churches.  The  Bible  was  a  free  book,  and  Budowa 
was  regarded  as  a  national  hero.  The  Brethren  had  at  last  won 
their  freedom,  and  as  they  had  eight  representatives  on  the  Board 
of  Defenders,  they  willingly  subscribed  to  the  general  Bohemian 
National  Protestant  Confession  ;  and  with  their  own  ritual  and  their 
own  government  recognized  by  law,  they  could  henceforth  preach 
and  teach  in  their  own  way  without  fear  of  sword  and  stake. 

This  prosperity,  however,  did  not  last  long.  Already  in  1611 
complaints  began  to  reach  the  Defenders  that  the  Catholics  were 
growing  unfriendly,  a  significant  sign,  as  since  the  signing  of  the 
Bohemian  Charter  they  had  been  outwardly  on  good  terms  with  the 
Protestants.  This  renewed  opposition  was  fully  revealed  in  the 
Church  Building  difficulty.  To  explain  fully  :  one  clause  in  the 
Bofiemian  Charter  was  not  quite  clear,  and  the  Jesuits  twisted  it  to 
suit  their  own  purposes.     According  to  that  clause  there  was  to  be 


36 

complete  religious  freedom  on  all  "  Royal  Estates."  The  question 
arose  :  "  What  were  '  Royal  Estates?'  "  Were  Church  Estates — 
estates  held  by  the  Church  of  Rome  as  a  tenant  of  the  King — 
"Royal  Estates,"  or  were  they  not?  When  the  Charter  was 
granted  it  was  commonly  understood  that  they  were,  and,  acting  on 
this  understanding,  the  Protestants  had  built  churches  on  two  Church 
Estates.  The  Jesuits,  backed  by  Martinic  and  Slawata,  argued  that 
all  Church  Estates  were  the  sole  property  of  the  Church  of  Rome, 
and  so  they  came  and  demolished  the  churches,  and  used  the  wood 
of  one  for  firewood. 

The  Protestant  nobles  appealed  to  the  Emperor,  but  to  their 
great  dismay  he  upheld  the  Jesuits,  despite  the  fact  that  the  nobles 
had  given  him  his  throne. 

In  1616,  as  if  conscious  of  a  coming  storm,  the  Brethren  met 
at  Zeravvic  for  what  proved  to  be  the  last  United  Synod  of  the  An- 
cient Unitas  Fratrum,  and  there  drew  up  an  invaluable  document. 
It  was  a  full  account  of  the  institutions  of  the  Unity,  and  was  called 
the  "Ratio  Disciplinae"  or  "Order  of  Discipline,"  and  it  remains 
to  this  day  the  best  picture  of  the  life  of  the  Ancient  Brethren. 

In  1617  Ferdinand  II.  became  King  of  Bohemia.  When  he 
took  the  oath,  at  his  coronation,  to  keep  the  Charter,  all  knew  the 
proceeding  was  a  farce.  He  was  half  Jesuit,  and  it  was  said  that  he 
had  secretly  sworn  not  to  grant  anything  to  the  Protestants  that 
would  be  against  the  Catholics.  In  every  Romish  church  in  Bohe- 
mia, the  priests  preached  sermons  against  the  Protestants.  The 
King's  government,  led  by  Martinic  and  Slawata,  openly  broke  the 
Charter.  Protestant  ministers  were  expelled  from  their  pulpits,  and 
Roman  Catholics  put  in  their  places.  The  King's  officers  burst 
into  Protestant  churches  and  interrupted  the  services.  It  seemed 
evident  that  trouble  was  brewing.  On  Oct.  31st,  1617,  the  Protest- 
ants held  a  grand  Centenary  Festival  in  honor  of  Martin  Luther, 
which  enraged  the  Catholics,  and  on  Nov.  10th  the  Catholics  held 
a  Festival  which  maddened  the  Protestants.  The  Jesuits  never  tired 
of  stirring  up  strife  between  the  parties,  and  abuses  of  every  kind 
were  heaped  upon  the  Protestants  until  the  Charter  had  been  vio- 
lated in  almost  every  particular.  Appeal  after  appeal  to  the  King 
and  Emperor  was  met  with  harshness  and  scorn,  until  it  seemed 
that  now  was®the  time  for  the  Twenty-four  Defenders  to  rise  and  do 
their  duty, — now  was  the  time  to  make  the  Charter  no  longer  a 
mockery.  The  Defenders  came  to  the  royal  castle  in  Prague, — the 
same  in  which  John  Augusta  had  lain  for  16  years, — they  burst  into 
the  room  where  four  of  the  King's  Regents  were  assembled,  among 
them  Martinic  and  Slawata  !  As  the  Defenders  stood  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  two  men  who  had  done  most  to  bring  affliction  upon  the 
people  they  felt  the  decisive  moment  had  come.  The  interview  was 
stormy.    Paul  von  Rican,  as  spokesman,  read  a  document,  charging 


37 

Martinic  and  Slavvata  with  breaking  the  Charter,  and  appealed  to 
the  crowd  which  had  gathered  in  the  corridor.  They  shouted, 
and  one  voice  was  heard  to  say,  "  Into  the  Black  Tower  with  them." 
But  another,  Rupovv  by  name,  said,  "  Out  of  the  window  with  them, 
after  the  ancient  Bohemian  fashion."  No  sooner  said  than  done. 
The  two  men  were  seized  and  thrown  out  of  the  window,  sixty  feet 
from  the  ground,  and,  falling  upon  a  heap  of  rubbish,  they  escaped 
with  nothing  worse  than  a  few  cuts  and  bruises,  and  a  report  spread 
that  the  Virgin  Mary  had  stretched  out  her  hands  to  save  them. 

The  events  now  came  thick  and  fast,  like  hailstones  in  a  storm. 
The  Defenders  took  measures  at  once,  gathered  an  army,  deposed 
Ferdinand,  and  elected  Frederick,  the  Elector  Palatine,  and  a  son- 
in-law  of  James  I.  of  England,  as  King  of  Bohemia  ;  and  ordered 
the  Jesuits  out  of  the  realm.  There  was  a  scene  in  Prague  when 
the  Jesuits  departed.  They  formed  in  procession  in  the  streets,  and, 
clad  in  black,  marched  off  with  bowed  heads  and  loud  wailing.  For 
a  moment  the  Protestants  of  Prague  went  mad  with  joy.  In  the 
great  Cathedral  they  pulled  off  the  ornaments  and  destroyed  costly 
pictures,  and  the  new  King  conducted  a  mock  celebration  of  the 
Holy  Communion.  What  a  fever  men's'  minds  must  have  been  in 
when  such  sacrilege  could  be  committed  ! 

Then  the  army  of  King  Ferdinand  marched  toward  Prague, 
and  the  battle  of  the  White  Mountain  was  fought,  Nov.  8,  1620. 
The  army  of  the  Defenders  was  routed,  churches  were  destroyed, 
villages  were  pillaged,  ministers  of  the  Gospel  were  murdered,  and 
Bohemia  lay  crushed  under  the  heel  of  the  conqueror. 

As  the  members  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  had  led  in  the  demand 
for  religions  liberty,  and,  when  it  was  attained,  had  joined  hands 
with  the  other  Protestants,  and  had  shared  with  them  in  the  frenzied 
attempt  to  hold  their  rights  by  force  of  arms,  so  now  they  shared  in 
the  great  defeat,  suffering  more  heavily  than  any  others  from  the 
measures  that  followed  it. 

The  Jesuits' were  recalled  ;  priests  of  the  Unity  and  Lutheran 
ministers  were  ordered  to  leave  Prague  in  three  days  and  Bohemia 
in  eight.  The  Defenders  and  other  leaders  were  left  at  large  for 
three  months,  then  when  they  thought  the  danger  was  over  they 
were  summoned  before  the  Governor  "to  hear  a  communication 
from  the  Emperor."  It  was  only  a  ruse,  and  they  were  all  arrested 
and  imprisoned,  and  tried  on  various  charges.  Twenty-seven  were 
condemned  to  death,  the  rest  to  other  punishments.  June  21,  1621, 
was  appointed  for  their  execution,  which  took  place  in  the  Great 
Square  of  Prague. 

On  the  west  side  of  this  square  was  the  Council  House,  and  in 
this  were  the  prisoners,  half  of  whom  were  members  of  the  Unitas 
Fratrum.  In  front  of  their  window  was  the  scaffold,  draped  in 
black.   When,  early  in  the  morning,  the  prisoners  looked  out  of  the 


38 

window,  to  take  their  last  view  of  earth,  they  saw  a  brilliant,  gor- 
geous, but  to  them,  terrible  scene.  There  was  prayer  in  that  mar- 
tyrs' room.  There  was  the  last  earthly  communion  with  the  Eternal. 
Not  one  of  their  number  showed  the  white  feather  in  the  presence 
of  death.  Swiftly  and  in  order  the  work  was  done.  One  man, 
named  Mydlar,  was  the  executioner,  and,  being  a  Protestant,  he  per- 
formed his  duties  with  as  much  decency  and  humanity  as  possible. 
The  sword  which  was  used  for  the  first  eleven  victims  is  still  to  be 
seen  in  Prague,  with  the  names  inscribed  upon  it,  and  among  them 
is  the  name  of  Wenzel  von  Budowa.  Had  the  Protestants  conquered, 
Budowa  and  his  associates  would  rank  in  history  along  with  Wash- 
ington and  other  heroes,  and,  though  they  failed  and  perished, 
their  testimony  to  Christian  patriotism  and  evangelical  religion  and 
personal  faith  is  immortal. 


THE  BRETHREN  IN  EXILE,  1621— 1722.    . 

After  executing  the  Defenders  of  Bohemia;  the  King  and  his 
servants  left  not  a  stone  unturned  to  destroy  the  Protestants.  Their 
churches  were  either  destroyed,  or  turned  into  Roman  Catholic 
chapels  by  customary  methods  of  purification  and  re-dedication. 
What  actually  happened  during  the  next  few  years  no  tongue  can 
tell.  We  read  that  thirty-six  thousand  families  left  Bohemia  and 
Moravia  rather  than  endure  the  persecutions  inflicted  on  all  Prot- 
estants. 

There  were  several  distinct  features  of  this  anti-reformation, 
besides  the  general  oppression  of  the  people.  First  came  the  seizure 
of  the  church  buildings  ;  then  Protestant  clergymen  were  every- 
where driven  from  their  parishes  ;  Protestant  literature  was,  as  far 
as  possible,  destroyed,  the  Kralitz  Bible  being  particularly  sought 
out  ;  a  wholesale  confiscation  of  property  took  place  ;  the  currency 
was  intentionally  depreciated,  so  that  multitudes  were  reduced  to 
poverty  ;  commissions  were  sent  through  the  country  to  bring  the 
people  into  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  ;  all  those  who  refused  to 
become  Catholics  were  banished. 

The  members  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  suffered  with  the  rest. 
Their  priests  tried  bravely  to  remain  in  the  country  to  comfort  their 
people,  Charles  von  Zerotin  and  others  used  all  their  power  and 
influence  to  protect  their  Brethren,  but  it  was  in  vain,  and,  in  1627, 
Zerotin  and  those  he  had  sheltered  went  into  exile, — a  type  of  thou- 
sands of  .the  best  and  bravest  of  the  Brethren. 

Driven  from  Bohemia  and  Moravia  the  Brethren  held  together 


39 

as  far  as  possible,  and  went  to  countries  where  they  hoped  to  re-es- 
tablish their  Church,  — to  Poland,  Hungary,  Transylvania,  Prussia 
and  Silesia.  Of  these  settlements  the  more  important  were  in  Poland, 
to  which  country  many  of  the  Brethren  had  gone  in  earlier  persecu- 
tions. The  Polish  branch  of  the  Unity  had  also  suffered  severely 
from  the  Jesuits,  but,  in  spite  of  opposition,  Lissa  now  became  the 
centre  of  the  Unity's  work.  There  the  printing-  press  was  again  set 
in  motion,  there  Synods  met,  and  from  there  the  bishops  and  their 
assistants  did  what  they  could  to  relieve  the  necessities  of  the  exiles,, 
many  of  whom  were  in  deepest  poverty. 

The  most  prominent  figure  during  these  years  was  John  Amos 
Comenius.  His  story  is  very  interesting,  but  can  be  given  here  only 
in  outline.  Born  in  1592  in  Moravia,  he  received  a  gocd  education, 
and  began  his  career  as  Rector  of  the  school  at  Prerau.  He  was 
pastor  at  Fulneck  in  1620,  when  the  town  was  sacked,  and  his 
library  was  burned  on  the  public  square.  With  a  company  of  friends 
he  went  into  exile,  in  1628,  pausing  on  the  frontier  mountain-top  to 
look  back  to  the  home-land,  and  offer  an  impassioned  prayer  that 
God  would  preserve  therein  "a  seed  of  righteousness."  In  1632, 
he  was  consecrated  a  bishop  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  His  life-work 
had  two  distinct  aspects.  As  a  member  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  he 
gave  to  it  whole-hearted  devotion.  He  collected  funds  for  the  needy; 
he  republished  the  Kralitz  Bible,  the  Ratio  Disciplinae,  the  Hymn- 
books  and  Confessions  of  the  Brethren  ;  he  led  in  the  government 
of  the  scattered  congregations  ;  he  impressed  upon  his  people  the 
necessity  for  maintaining  a  succession  of  bishops,  that  they  might 
be  ready,  if  God  pleased,  to  renew  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  In  addition 
to  all  this  he  was  one  of  the  greatest  educators  the  world  has  ever 
known,  the  founder  of  the  modern  theory  of  education.  He  was 
honored  in  England,  in  Sweden,  in.  Holland,  was  even  invited  to 
come  to  America  as  president  of  Harvard  College.  His  literary 
activity  never  flagged,  and  his  fame  to-day  is  even  greater  than 
when  he  lived.      He  died  in  1670. 

Meanwhile  the  exiles  continued  to  suffer  change.  Periods  of 
comparative  peace  would  be  followed  by  war  and  its  desolation. 
Lissa  was  twice  destroyed  by  fire  and  twice  rebuilt,  but  the  Brethren 
slowly  turned  to  the  Reformed  Church  (Calvinistic),  and  were 
finally  absorbed  by  it.  Certain  congregations,  however,  still  cher- 
ished their  descent  from  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  and  maintained  that 
line  of  bishops  until  1841,  when  it  was  broken  by  death.  Since 
then  it  has  been  thrice  revived  through  the  Renewed  Unitas  Fratrum. 
In  the  same  way  the  congregations  scattered  in  other  countries  were 
absorbed  by  other  Churches,  but  details  of  the  change  are  wanting. 


40 
THE  -HIDDEN  SEED,"  1621— 1722. 

In  the  period  from  the  anti-reformation  to  1722  a  "Hidden 
Seed"  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum  remained  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia. 
This  seed  consisted  of  such  Brethren  as  for  various  reasons  did  not . 
emigrate.  The  rulers  sought  to  suppress  every  vestige  of  Evangel- 
ical religion,  forbidding  even  family  worship  in  such  houses  as  were 
suspected  of  Evangelical  tendencies,  and  allowing  no  Protestant  to 
settle  and  acquire  property  in  any  part  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia. 
Nevertheless,  in  secret,  especially  among  the  peasantry,  the  faith  of 
the  Brethren  was  maintained,  and  both  the  government  and  the 
Romish  clergy  found  it  impossible  to  extinguish  absolutely  the  spark 
which  still  glowed. 

A  detailed  history  of  the  "  Hidden  Seed  "  for  the  first  fifty  years 
cannot  be  given  ;  all  that  can  be  said  is  that  religious  worship  was 
kept  up,  as  far  as  possible,  by  stealth,  sometimes  in  the  cottages  of 
the  peasants  or  castles  of  lords,  and  sometimes  in  the  recesses  of 
forests  or  mountains.  During  this  time  the  Brethren  were  visited 
by  ministers  of  their  Church  from  Silesia  and  Hungary,  who  dis- 
pensed the  sacraments.  Comenius,  too,  did  what  he  could  to  foster 
the  ' '  Hidden  Seed ' '  by  secretly  sending  to  Bohemia  and  Moravia 
copies  of  the  Bible,  Catechism,  Hymnal,  and  works  relating  to  the 
Unitas  Fratrum. 

In  the  first  quarter  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  "Hidden 
Seed,"  both  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia,  showed  signs  of  new  life. 
Such  life  can  now  be  traced  back  to  several  sources.  It  flowed,  in 
the  first  place,  from  the  Evangelical  literature  which  began  to  spread 
in  richer  streams  than  at  any  previous  time  since  the  Anti-Refor- 
mation. 

Wenzel  Kleych,  who  was  born  in  1678,  was  one  who  did  much 
to  awaken  the  ••  Hidden  Seed."  He  read  everything  he  could  find 
on  the  subject  of  the  Brethren's  Church.  This  brought  on  him 
severe  persecution,  and  he  resolved  to  seek  a  country  where  he 
could  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  religious  liberty,  and  follow  his 
literary  inclinations  in  peace.  He  and  his  wife,  with  their  two  chil- 
dren, forsaking  their  rich  farm,  left  by  night,  and  made  their  way  to 
Zittau,  in  Saxony.  They  eked  out  an  existence  by  gardening,  spin- 
ning and  washing.  In  time  they  became  more  prosperous,  and 
Kleych  was  able  to  have  printed  a  new  edition  of  the  Bohemian 
New  Testament,  and  much  other  religious  literature,  which  he  sent 
by  night  across  the  frontier  to  Bohemia  and  Moravia. 

The  testimony  borne  by  the  fathers  of  a  former  generation 
was  another  source  of  new  life,  and  these  men  prophesied  of  the 
renewal  of  the  Brethren's  Church,  thus  encouraging  the  younger 
generation. 

Christian  David,  "  the  servant  of  the  Lord,"  was  born  on  the 


41 

last  day  of  the  year  1690.  He  was  an  ignorant  shepherd,  entangled 
in  all  the  superstitions  of  Rome,  but  was,  through  the  Son,  made 
free  indeed,  and  enlightened  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  was  inspired  to 
work  for  Christ  with  a  zeal  which  nothing  could  quench.  In  1718, 
after  learning  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  he  left  Moravia,  looking  for 
work  as  a  journeyman,  and  seeking  Christ  as  an  awakened  sinner. 
He  visited  Hungary,  Austria  and  other  places  ;  joined  the  Protest- 
ant Church  ;  served  as  a  soldier  in  the  Prussian  army  ;  lay  sick 
unto  death  in  a  hospital  ;  escaped  from  the  hands  of  the  Jesuits — 
all  the  time  growing  in  grace  and  in  the  knowledge  of  God, — and, 
at  last,  in  1717,  he  came  to  Goerlitz,  in  Silesia,  where  he  met  with 
Melchoir  Schaefer,  the  pastor  of  a  Lutheran  church,  and  other  men 
of  sterling  piety.  He  determined  to  make  that  place  his  home  but 
was  soon  moved  by  the  Spirit  to  visit  his  native  country  in  order  to 
proclaim  the  Gospel. 

In  the  course  of  his  journey  he  came  to  Sehlen,  and  formed 
the  acquaintance  of  the  Neissers,  upon  whose  heart  he  made  a  deep 
impression.  On  his  return  to  Goerlitz  he  was  seized  with  a  severe 
illness,  and  again  brought  to  death's  door.  No  sooner  had  he 
recovered  than  he  set  out  again  and  proceeded  to  Sehlen,  where  he 
proclaimed  Christ  with  great  power.  His  exposition  of  Christ's 
words,  "And  every  one  that  hath  forsaken  houses,  or  brethren,  or 
sisters,  or  father,  or  mother,  or  wife,  or  children,  or  lands,  for  my 
name's  sake,  shall  receive  an  hundred  fold,  and  shall  inherit  ever- 
lasting life,"  moved  the  Neissers  to  their  inmost  hearts.  They 
begged  Christian  David  to  look  for  a  retreat  in  a  Protestant  coun- 
try, where  they  could  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth.  He  con- 
sented to  do  so,  but  three  years  elapsed  before  a  place  was  found. 
On  Monday,  in  Whitsunweek,  the  25th  of  May,  1722,  Christian 
David  arrived  at  Sehlen  with  the  intelligence  that  Count  Nicholas 
Lewis  von  Zinzendorf,  a  pious  young  nobleman,  was  willing  to 
receive  them  on  his  estate  of  Berthelsdorf,  in  Saxony.  In  the  night 
of  the  following  Wednesday,  soon  after  10  o'clock,  Augustine  and 
Jacob  Neisser,  their  wives  and  four  children,  together  with  Michael 
Jaeschke  and  Martha  Neisser,  ten  persons  in  all,  leaving  behind 
houses  and  farms  and  whatever  else  they  possessed,  took  their  silent 
way  afoot  through  the  village,  and,  led  by  Christian  David,  turned 
toward  the  Silesian  frontier.  They  were  the  first  of  those  witnesses 
that  had  been  ordained  to  go  into  a  strange  land,  and  build  unto 
God  a  city,  at  whose  sacred  fire  the  dying  Unitas  Fratrum  should 
renew  its  youth  like  the  eagle's. 


42 


LEADING  QUESTIONS. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  CHURCH. 

Who  founded  the  Christian  Church  ?  From  what  Church  were 
its  earliest  members  drawn  ?  Give  three  foundation  principles.  When 
and  why  were  the  Gentiles  admitted  ?  Why  were  the  Christians  per- 
secuted by  the  Jews  ;  and  what  was  the  result  ?  Why  by  the  Ro- 
mans ;  and  what  result  ?  Describe  the  organization  of  the  Church 
in  this  period.  How  much  of  the  Bible  did  Christians  have  by  the 
close  of  the  first  century  ? 

THE  EARLY  CHRISTIAN   CHURCH. 

Explain  the  compilation  of  the  New  Testament.  What  disturbed 
the  Church  during  the  2d  and  3d  centuries?  What  is  "heresy"? 
What  does  the  term  "Catholic  Church"  mean?  To  what  extent 
were  Christians  persecuted  during  this  period?  Describe  the  cata- 
combs. When  did  persecution  end  ?  Name  the  principal  Church 
Fathers  of  the  2d  century  ;  of  the  3rd  century  ;  of  the  4th  and  5th 
centuries. 

THE  ROMAN  AND  THE  GREEK  CHURCHES. 

What  was  the  condition  of  the  Church  under  Constantine  ; 
Constantius  ;  Julian  ?  Describe  the  barbaric  incursions  into  the 
Roman  Empire.  When  was  the  Empire  divided  ?  Explain  the 
growth  of  the  Church  during  this  period  ?  What  is  the  Greek 
Church  ?  The  Roman  Church  ?  What  marked  the  alliance  between 
Church  and  State  ? 

CHRISTIANITY  IN   BOHEMIA. 

Why  is  Bohemia  important  in  general  Church  history  ?  De- 
scribe it,  and  give  early  history.  When  and  how  was  Christianity 
introduced  from  the  Roman  Church  ?  From  the  Greek  Church  ? 
How  did  the  Roman  Catholics  gain  control,  and  with  what  result? 
Describe  the  Bohemian  awakening  in  the  14th  century.  Give  the 
three  forerunners  of  Huss. 

HUSS  AND  THE   HUSSITES. 

Give  outline  of  Huss'  life.  What  did  he  teach  ?  Why  was 
he  put  to  death  ?  Describe  his  trial  and  execution.  What  were  the 
Hussite  Wars?  Who  was  Ziska  ?  What  did  the  Utraquists  want? 
The  Taborites  ?  Which  gained  control  ?  Who  was  Rokycana  ? 
Peter  of  Chelcic  ? 


43 

RISE   OF  THE   UNITAS   FRATRUM. 

Who  was  Gregory  the  Patriarch  ?  Describe  the  settlement  at 
Kunwald  ;  the  organization  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum.  Explain  the 
first  persecution  of  the  Unity.  When  and  why  did  they  establish  a 
separate  ministry  ?  Explain  the  two  steps  in  their  ordination.  What 
was  the  result  ? 

THE  UNITAS  FRATRUM   UNDER  LUKE  OF 
PRAGUE. 

Who  followed  Gregory  in  the  leadership  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum? 
Describe  the  Unity  during  this  period, —  its  size,  position  in  the 
State,  doctrine,  publications.  What  was  the  Edict  of  St.  James  ? 
What  followed  it  ?     Give  the  life  of  Luke  of  Prague. 

JOHN  AUGUSTA  AND  HIS  TIMES. 

What  intercourse  did  the  Unitas  Fratrum  have  with  Martin 
Luther?  Who  was  John  Augusta,  and  how  did  he  become  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Council  ?  How  did  he  try  to  guard  the  Unity  against  the 
Roman  Catholics?  How  did  the  Unity  now  stand  in  Bohemia? 
What  gave  opportunity  for  the  fourth  persecution  ?  Describe  the 
exodus  into  Poland  and  Prussia,  and  its  result.  Tell  of  the  capture, 
torture  and  heroism  of  Augusta.  Describe  the  recovery  of  the 
Unity  from  this  persecution.     Tell  of  the  last  days  of  John  Augusta. 

PROSPERITY  AND   DEFEAT. 

Who  were  the  Jesuits?  What  was  the  Kralitz  Bible?  Why 
did  the  nobles  become  leaders  in  the  Unitas  Fratrum  ?  Name  two. 
Who  published  the  first  Protestant  Hymnbook  ?  What  was  the 
Bohemian  Charter?  What  was  its  effect  on  the  Unitas  Fratrum? 
How  long  did  peace  last  ?  What  was  the  Ratio  Discipline  ?  De- 
scribe the  Protestant  revolt  and  success  ;  the  Protestant  defeat,  and 
the  "  Day  of  Blood"  at  Prague.  What  did  this  mean  to  the  Prot- 
estants of  Bohemia  and  Moravia  ? 

THE   BRETHREN   IN   EXILE. 

Describe  the  anti-reformation  in  Bohemia  and  Moravia.  What 
happened  to  the  Unitas  Fratrum  ?  Where  did  they  establish  a  new 
centre  ?  Give  the  story  of  John  Amos  Comenius.  What  became 
of  the  exiled  congregations  ? 

THE   "HIDDEN   SEED." 

What  was  the  "  Hidden  Seed  "?  How  was  the  faith  kept  alive? 
Who  was  Wenzel  Kleych,  and  what  did  he  do  for  them  ?  Tell  the 
story  of  Christian  David?  Who  were  the  first  of  the  "Hidden 
Seed  "  to  emigrate  from  Moravia  in  1722,  and  why  did  they  go? 


44 


A  BRIEF  HISTORY  OF  THE  MORAVIAN 
CHURCH. 


THE  CHRISTIAN   CHURCH,  1-800. 

The  Apostolic  Church,  1  —  100 Page    3 

Tne  Early  Christian  Church,  100-813 /.'  6 

The  Roman  and  Greek  Churches,  313  -800 "  8 

THE  CHURCH   IN   BOHEMIA,  800-1457. 

Christianity  in  Bohemia,  800—1394 "  12 

Huss  and  the  Hussites,  1394 — 1457 "  15 


THE  UNITAS  FRATRUM,  1457--1722. 
Rise  of  the  Unitas  Fratrum,  1457 — 1473 


The  Unitas  Fratrum  under  Luke  of  Prague, 
1473—1528 


John  Augusta  and  His  Times,  1528 — 1572 

Prosperity  and  Defeat,   1572  — 1621 

The  Brethren  in  Exile.  1621 — 1722 

The  "Hidden  Seed,"  1621—1722 

LEADING  QUESTIONS 


20 

24 
27 
34 

38 
40 

42 


